General
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Central Arkansas, North Florida, Stetson and West Florida highlight the 2026 Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Men’s Soccer postseason honors, announced Thursday by the league office.
Central Arkansas’ Vaclav Kozeny earned this season’s Player of the Year honor. Kozeny led the Bears this season with six goals and four assists, tallying 16 points on the year. His six goals were good for fourth in the ASUN, and his four assists ranked fifth. In ASUN matches, he tallied three goals which ranked seventh in the conference, and four assists, good for second in the league. Fellow bear, Merrick Cook was named Goalkeeper of the Year. Cook finished the regular season with a 1.29 goals against average, and held a 1.00 GAA in ASUN games, the third-best in the conference. He was first in the ASUN in total saves this year (69) and save percentage (.793), and recorded three shutouts, one of four keepers to log three clean sheets.
North Florida’s Rafa Rios inked the Defensive Player of the Year honor. Rios appeared in 17 matches with 16 starts and has posted two goals and one assist for five points, and anchored the backline in 1,487 minutes played. The junior helped North Florida only allow four goals in eight ASUN Conference matches.
Junior Essengue, a Stetson defender, was named Freshman of the Year. Essengue appeared in all 17 matches for Stetson during the 2026 season, making 15 starts and totaling 1,238 minutes along the back line. Offensively, he contributed one goal and two assists for four points.
In his first Division l season, Bill Elliott led the West Florida Argonauts to a 5-3 record to be named Coach of the Year. Elliott’s team ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak after defeating Lipscomb, Jacksonville, and Stetson before closing out the season with a 5-0 shutout against Spring Hill. The Argo’s recorded 20 goals, 20 assists and 66 saves this season.
Player of the Year: Vaclav Kozeny, Central Arkansas
Defensive Player of the Year: Rafa Rios, North Florida
Goalkeeper of the Year: Merrick Cook, Central Arkansas
Freshman of the Year: Junior Essengue, Stetson
Coach of the Year: Bill Elliott, West Florida
First Team All-ASUN
F – Aron Martinez, FGCU
F – Mark Romano, North Florida
F – Afonso Conde, Stetson
MF – Anton Khelil, North Florida
MF – Vaclacv Kozeny, Central Arkansas
MF – Luis Vera Mayorca, Queens
MF – Rico Duggan, Central Arkansas
D – Rafa Rios, North Florida
D – Kaisei Matsudo, Central Arkansas
D – Otto Gustafsson, Queens
D – Joseph Mwamba, Central Arkansas
D – Mikhail Keise, North Florida
GK – Merrick Cook, Central Arkansas
*a tie in voting resulted in a 13-person First Team
Second Team All-ASUN
F – Iker Carew, Queens
F – Maxim Sheenkov, Central Arkansas
F – Johan Nissen-Lie, Bellarmine
F – Kaiss Mansouri, North Florida
F – Matias Tobon, Jacksonville
MF – Tyler Prebenda, North Florida
MF – Valentin Fontaine, Stetson
MF – Rafael Esteves Machado, West Florida
D – Joao Ribero, West Florida
D – Gavin Crowe, Bellarmine
D – Yonid Kireh, Lipscomb
GK – Luciano Natoli, North Florida
*a tie in voting resulted in a 12-person Second Team
All-Freshman Team
Junior Essengue, Stetson
Emir Trto, North Florida
Danny Nava, Central Arkansas
Falvio D’Angelo, FGCU
Matthew Perez, Stetson
Murillo Mello, Stetson
Enzo Resende, Queens
Tobias Sosa, Lipscomb
Emerson LaOrden, FGCU
Enzo Evangelista, Lipscomb
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