USA South 2012 Men's Soccer Awards Announced

(FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.) - The USA South Athletic Conference has announced its 2012 All-Conference awards for men's soccer. A total of 45 student-athletes have been named to the All-Conference teams. Christopher Newport University's Jalon Brown has been named the Player of the Year while his coach, Steve Shaw earned Coach of the Year honors. N.C. Wesleyan College's Andi Bjarnason was named Rookie of the Year. Additionally, the USA South recognized an All-Sportsmanship Team, consisting of one member from each competing school.

All awards are voted on by the men's soccer coach at each institution.

Brown, a Yorktown, Virginia, sophomore midfielder is currently tied atop the Conference rankings with 39 points on 14 goals and a USA South-best 11 assists. His 14 goals currently rank him tied for third in the league. In Conference-action only, Brown totaled 12 points on three goals and a league-high six assists. He earns his second career all-conference honor, garnering First Team All-Conference accolades this season as a forward after collecting first team honors last fall as a midfielder. Finally, Brown accumulated two USA South Player of the Week honors this season.

Bjarnason, a Bolungarvik, Iceland freshman forward, totaled 33 points on 14 goals and five assists this season. His 33 points ranked fourth in the Conference while his 14 goals are tied with Brown's total. In league action only, Bjarnason led all players with 19 points on a Conference-high eight goals with three assists. He earned First Team All-Conference accolades as a forward to go along with two USA South Rookie of the Week honors this fall.

Shaw, in his 17th season as the head of the Captains, earned his second consecutive and eighth career coach of the year honor. He took his team to their eighth regular season title, all since the year 2000. CNU finished the regular season with a 14-2-2 overall record and a 6-1-1 mark in USA South play. The Captains are currently ranked 13th nationally and enter the semifinals of the USA South Men's Soccer Tournament as the top seed.

Player of the Year	Rookie of the Year	Coach of the Year
Jalon Brown Christopher Newport	Andri Bjarnason N.C. Wesleyan	Steve Shaw Christopher Newport

The 2012 USA South Men's Soccer All-Conference Team: