Five Paladins Earn Southern Conference Postseason Honors
Furman’s Christian Kraus, Dylan Lane, and Slade Starnes each garnered All-Southern Conference honors while Caleb Johnson and Aaron Salinas were selected to the SoCon All-Freshman Team, it was announced on Thursday afternoon by the conference office. Kraus, a native of Fenton, Mo., and Lane, a product of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, N.C., were named to the All-SoCon First Team. A forward, Kraus paced the Paladins in goals (7), assists (4), and total points (18) during the regular season. He netted match-winning scores in victories over Winthrop and UNC Asheville. Lane, a midfielder, finished the regular season with three goals and three assists and received SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring two goals in a 3-0 win at Coastal Carolina in September. Starnes, who missed most of the first half of the season due to injury, returned to score the match-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over UNC Greensboro. The sophomore defender from Dallas, Texas, was named second team All-SoCon after earning SoCon All-Freshman honors in 2022. Johnson, a native of Atlanta, Ga., has played in all 16 matches during his rookie season and scored his first career goal in a season-opening win over Elon. The midfielder has made seven starts and totaled three assists this season. Salinas has posted four shutouts, a 5-3-2 record, and 1.21 goals against average. The goalkeeper from Grand Prairie, Texas, has started 11 matches as a rookie and made a season-high fives saves in wins over Coastal Carolina and Gardner-Webb. Furman (8-5-3) begins play in the 2023 SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship quarterfinal round on Friday when the third-seeded Paladins take on the No. 6 seed VMI Keydets. Kickoff at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C., is slated for 4 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
2023 Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team
Player of the Year – Tarik Pannholzer, Sr., F, ETSU / Nikolai Rojel, So., F, Wofford
Goalkeeper of the Year – Cole Hunter, Gr., ETSU
Coach of the Year – David Lilly, ETSU / Joel Tyson, Wofford
Freshman of the Year – Barzee Blama, F, Mercer
First Team F Tarik Pannholzer, ETSU F Christian Kraus, Furman F Nikolai Rojel, Wofford MF Gabriel Ramos, ETSU MF Dylan Lane, Furman MF Jakob Andersson, Wofford MF Magnus Kjoller, Wofford D Chris McKenna, ETSU D Sekou Agard, Mercer D Moa Mohammedi, Wofford GK Cole Hunter, ETSU
Second Team F Kieran Richards, ETSU F Barzee Blama, Mercer F Arnaud Tattevin, UNCG MF Jack Birch, UNCG MF Basile Marc, UNCG MF Cole Mooney, VMI MF Thaddeus Dennis, Wofford D Henrik Guenther, ETSU D Yves Tcheuyap, ETSU D Slade Starnes, Furman D Paul Jones, Wofford GK Cameron Victor, Wofford
All-Freshman Team Louie Salkeld, MF, ETSU Nico Kross, D ETSU Aaron Salinas, GK, Furman Caleb Johnson, MF, Furman Barzee Blama, F, Mercer Arnaud Tattevin, F, UNCG Enzo Dovlo, D, UNCG Keanan Bader, MF, UNCG Kyle Grant, F, VMI Fabian Menendez, MF, Wofford Villads Landsperg, D, Wofford
Credit: Furman Assistant SID Jordan Caskey
