Three Houston Dynamo homegrown players earned conference accolades for their success in the 2013 NCAA men’s soccer season.
In the ACC, senior Duke defender Sebastien Ibeagha earned first team All-ACC accolades. A two-year captain at center back for the Blue Devils, Ibeagha helped lead the defense to a 0.93 goals against average and eight shutouts on the year while also adding two goals. Ibeagha was named to the first team last year as well, and earned second team honors in 2011.
Goalkeeper Fernando Pina of Akron also received first team all-conference honors in the Mid-American Conference. Pina, a redshirt freshman, started all 18 games for perennial powerhouse Akron, keeping a 0.62 goals against average with eight shutouts and saving 78.2% of shots faced. Pina and the Zips compiled a 14-3-1 record in the regular season and enter postseason play ranked No. 18 in the nation.
Akron begins the MAC tournament tonight against West Virginia, which features fellow Dynamo Academy alumni Christian Diaz and Alex Ochoa. The match starts at 6 p.m. CT and can be streamed for free at MAC-Sports.com.
Tulsa defender Bradley Bourgeois was named to the All-Conference USA third team. A sophomore center back, Bourgeois was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week once this year and helped record six shutouts. Tulsa—which also features Dynamo homegrown players Abe Matamoros and Christian Camera—faces New Mexico in the C-USA semifinals at 4 p.m. CT today.
Also of note for Dynamo homegrown players was senior Notre Dame goalkeeper Pat Wall. Wall started all 18 games in goal for the Fighting Irish, recording eight shutouts and a 12-1-5 record en route to a No. 3 ranking in the NCAA. He stopped 83.1% of shots faced and allowed 0.57 goals per game.
Wall and the Irish defeated Duke in the ACC quarterfinals on Tuesday, and will face Virginia in the semifinals today at 4:30 p.m. CT on ESPN3.
