Men's Soccer | 12/14/2016 1:27:00 PM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Five Georgia Southern men's soccer players have been named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar All-South Region teams. Adam Abdellaoui, Torgeir Fjaer and Emil Laursen were all named to the first team with Thor Sveinbjornsson and Aidan Reising earning second-team honors.

"While I was proud of our conference championship this fall, I am even more pleased with our team's collective 3.15 GPA and that five individuals from our team have been acknowledged by the NSCAA," head coach John Murphy said. "It gives a clear indication of the commitment of our athletic department, our program and, more importantly, our student-athletes to excel both on and off the field. Additionally, we would not be able to reach these heights without the leadership of Reggie Simpkins and the guidance of Sam Garrison of Student-Athlete Services here on campus. We are certainly grateful for their efforts. Most importantly, I would like to thank Torgier, Emil, Adam, Aiden and Thor for their outstanding academic performances his fall. They represent our university in an exceptional manner and are the standards that we will be looking to adhere to annually."

Student-athletes receiving Scholar All-Region recognition at the NCAA Division I level must own a 3.30 grade point average, start more than 50 percent of all games with significant contribution and be a junior or above in academic standing. The five student-athletes honored is the most by any program in the south region.

Abdellaoui, a junior from Alpharetta, Georgia, was named to the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 First Team earlier this year. He played in all 19 games for the Eagles, starting 13 while averaging 67.1 minutes per contest. He recorded eight points for the year, second on the team, and led the team with four assists, including both goals at Mercer. Abdellaoui scored two goals on the year, including at Stetson and at home versus Campbell off a penalty kick. He also recorded an assist in the game against Campbell, giving him a season-high three points. He finished the year second on the team with 40 shots and 11 of his shot attempts were on frame.

Fjaer, a redshirt freshman goalkeeper from Trondheim, Norway, started the last 15 games in net for the Eagles, playing over 1,417 minutes. He made 71 saves in goal, an average of 4.7 per contest, to go along with a 0.772 save percentage compared to a 1.33 goals against average. His 1.33 goals against average is eighth all-time in program history for lowest GAA in a single season. He ended his first collegiate campaign 6-6-3 with wins over Mercer, North Florida, Georgia State, Gardner-Webb, Hartwick and App State. He earned his first collegiate shutout at home against North Florida, finishing the contest with eight saves and recorded a season-best nine saves on the road at South Carolina while facing a season-high 27 shots.

A sophomore defender from Silkeborg, Denmark, Laursen was named the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year as well as an All-Sun Belt Conference First-Team selection. He also earned NSCAA All-Southeast Region Second-Team honors and was named to the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 First-Team with a 4.00 GPA. During the season, he was twice named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week. Laursen started 14 games on the back row for the Eagles, anchoring a young Eagles defense that featured three freshmen as well as Laursen as a sophomore. He scored a team-best three game-winning goals, tied for second in the conference. He played every minute in 11 games with the Eagles going 5-3-3 (.591) in those contests.

Reising, a senior from Gainesville, Georgia, played in 16 games, earning eight starts for the Eagles. He started all six games from Sept. 5 to Sept. 24, playing 481 minutes in that stretch, an average of 80.2 minutes per game. He scored his first goal of the season, and second of his career, on Senior Night, leading the Eagles to a 3-1 win over long-time rival App State. That goal proved to be his first career game-winner. Reising played 835 total minutes, averaging 52.2 minutes per game and played a season-high 97 minutes against James Madison.

A junior from Hafnarfjordur, Iceland, Sveinbjornsson was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team and then appeared in 17 games, earning eight starts in the midfield. He recorded three assists in the Eagles' 4-1 season-opening win over Houston Baptist, giving him three points on the season. His three assists had him tied for second-most on the team. On the year, Sveinbjornsson played 816 minutes, averaging 48.0 per match, including playing all 90 minutes in the season-opener.

Georgia Southern ended the 2016 campaign with an 8-8-3 record. The Eagles went 3-1-1 in Sun Belt play and were co-regular season champions along with 2016 Sun Belt Championship winner Coastal Carolina. The Eagles were the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

2016 NSCAA NCAA Division I Men's Scholar All-South Region Teams
First Team

POS.	PLAYER	CLASS	SCHOOL	MAJOR	HOMETOWN
K	Stephen McCauley	Sr.	N.C. State	Business Administration	Marietta, Ga.
D	Torgeir Fjaer	Fr.	Georgia Southern	Accounting	Trondheim, Norway
D	Emil Laursen	So.	Georgia Southern	Economics	Silksborg, Denmark
D	Carter Manley	Jr.	Duke	Political Science	Elkridge, Md.
D	Kevin Politz	Jr.	Wake Forest	Mathematical Business	Morganville, N.J.
D	Lars Willemse	Sr.	UAB	Marketing	Veenendaal, Netherlands
M	Brandt Bronico	Sr.	Charlotte	Accounting	High Point, N.C.
M	Jacori Hayes	Sr.	Wake Forest	Physics	Bowie, Md.
M	Ian Harkes	Sr.	Wake Forest	Enterprise Management	Fairfax, Va.
M	David October	Jr.	North Carolina	Business Administration	Cambridge, England
F	Adam Abdellaoui	Jr.	Georgia Southern	Pre-Computer Science	Alpharetta, Ga.
F	Stephen Chapman	Sr.	Appalachian State	Actuarial Science	Greensboro, N.C.
F	Matt Rogers	Sr.	Oral Roberts	Business Administration	Broken Arrow, Okla.

Second Team

POS.	PLAYER	CLASS	SCHOOL	MAJOR	HOMETOWN
K	Jeremy Booth	Jr.	Mercer	Industrial Engineering	Norcross, Ga.
D	Airrion Blackstock	Jr.	Mercer	Accounting	Marietta, Ga.
D	Markus Fjortoft	Jr.	Duke	Cultural Anthropology	Asker, Norway
D	Mathieu Laurent	Jr.	UAB	Business	Markham, Ont.
D	Ben Steen	Sr.	Appalachian State	Finance and Banking	Mooresville, N.C.
M	Cody Brinkman	Jr.	Duke	Electrical/Computer Engineering	Durham, N.C.
M	Aidan Reising	Sr.	Georgia Southern	Information Technology	Gainesville, Ga.
M	Henrique Sposito	Sr.	UAB	Sociology	Campinas, Brazil
M	Thor Sveinbjornsson	Jr.	Georgia Southern	Accounting	Hafnarfjordur, Iceland
M	Zhuvonte Wilson	Sr.	Charlotte	Japanese and Business	Charlotte, N.C.
F	Milan Kovacs	Sr.	North Florida	Business	Bonyhad, Hungary

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