Five Eagles Tabbed With All-Conference Awards

New Orleans, La. --- The Sun Belt Conference announced their men's soccer major award winners and all-conference teams, in which five Eagles saw their names among the best in the conference. Noah Holmstrom was named Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference and Emil Seedorff was named Freshman of the Year and to the All-Freshman team. Ricky Louis was tabbed as a First-Team forward, while Nate Martinez was named to the conference's Second Team and Lior Holtz was also named to the All-Freshman team.

Holmstrom led the Eagles' defense to allow just 13 goals on the season, the second-lowest in program history. This included eight shutouts and only three matches in which the Eagles allowed two or more goals. The Denmark native was also a major factor in making the Eagles the best defense in the Sun Belt and a top-30 defense in multiple categories nationally. Holmstrom added two assists on the year and was the only player besides Martinez in goal to start in every match this year. He is the first Eagle since Emil Lauren in 2016 to win Defensive Player of the Year and only the second player to garner the award in team history.

Freshman of the Year Emil Seedorff had seven goals in his first year in Statesboro, second-most on the team and the most in the Sun Belt by a freshman. Aside from scoring in his first collegiate match against Charlotte, he would have a stretch of five straight goals produced late in the season as well. Against South Carolina, Seedorff would pull off a hat trick to give the Eagles a 3-1 victory, and became just the third player since 2000 in team history to do so. Emil played in every match while also adding two assists for a 16-point season. An Eagle has now won Freshman of the Year for the second straight season, as Harvey Sarajian did in 2024.

Ricky Louis led the team with his eight goals while tallying three assists to finish with 19 points in 2025. Louis' two braces on the year came against Presbyterian and then #4 Marshall to pull off the upset. Louis is also only one of 22 players in all of DI to have four or more game-winners on the season. A national and Sun Belt Player of the Week this season, Louis was also named to the Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List. Louis is the first forward to be named to the Sun Belt First Team since Adam Davie in 2020.

Martinez finished a historic regular season with Second Team All-Conference honors. His eight clean sheets in 2025 are tied for the most in a season in school history, while he is now the program record holder in career shutouts with 17. Martinez led the Sun Belt in both goals allowed and save percentage, while also having the second-most saves in the conference with his 49. His goals against average is also currently the lowest in school history, as it stands now at just 0.76. He made a season-high six saves against Jacksonville and is the only player to be on the pitch for every minute in the 2025 season.

Lior Holtz was also an All-Freshman team selection, majorly helping to lead the Eagles' defense to not only be one of the best in the Sun Belt, but also the nation. Along with the defensive record and accolades that were mentioned previously, Holtz added assists against both Mercer and Georgia State. He was also named to the Midseason Top 100 Freshman List by TopDrawer Soccer earlier this year as well. The duo of Seedorff and Holtz were the most freshmen to earn spots on the All-Freshman team since 2012.

The Eagles start their postseason journey with the Sun Belt quarterfinals match as the four seed, taking on fifth-seeded UCF this upcoming Sunday (November 9th). Kickoff in Lexington, Ky. is set for 7 PM.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Lior Holtz

Ricky Louis

Nate Martinez

Harvey Sarajian

Emil Seedorff

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