UNCG Men's Soccer's Casey Penland Earns Socon Player Of The Year

From UNC Greensboro Athletics:

November 12, 2019

UNCG Men's Soccer's Casey Penland Earns Socon Player Of The Year

GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG men's soccer sees six players earn Southern Conference postseason accolades in 2019, with defender Casey Penland receiving SoCon Player of the Year honors. Penland was one of three Spartans to make this year's First Team All-SoCon list, joined by teammates Albert Pedra and Micah Albert. Nelson Oceano received his second career Second Team All-SoCon selection as a midfielder, alongside goalkeeper Brendan Pulley, who also earned an All-Freshman nod. Defender Matthew Skinner joins Pulley on this year's Southern Conference All-Freshman team, as the 2019 SoCon Regular Season Champion Spartans look to become unified champs in this Sunday's tournament final against Mercer. This year's six honorees, and three First Team selections, are the most the program has had since 2015.

Read below for a short synopsis of all of those Spartans recognized in this year's Southern Conference postseason awards list:

Casey Penland
SoCon Player of the Year

First Team All-SoCon DefenderSenior | Defense | High Point, N.C. • First career All-SoCon selection; first SoCon Player of the Year from UNCG since 2015 (Jacques Francois)• Five goals in 2019 leads all Southern Conference defenders• 12 career goals are more than any other Spartan defender in Division I history• Helped lead the Spartan backline to a SoCon best 0.33 goals against average in conference play• Captained the UNCG defense to five shutouts in 2019

Albert Pedra
First Team All-SoCon MidfieldGraduate | Winger | Vinaros, Spain• First career All-SoCon selection• Scored a team-high 10 goals, ranking second in the conference• Tallied a hat trick against ODU, scoring three goals in 3:04; the fifth-fastest in NCAA history• Added two assists for a total of 22 points on the year• Scored game-winners against VMI, ODU and Belmont

Micah Albert

First Team All-SoCon ForwardSophomore | Forward | Sacramento, Calif.• First career All-Socon selection• Scored seven goals with three assists for a total of 17 points • Point total ranks fifth in the conference while his seven goals sit sixth• Tallied the game-winning goal against Mercer• Recorded braces against Radford and UNC Asheville

Nelson Oceano
Second Team All-SoCon MidfieldJunior | Midfield | Berlin, Germany• Second career All-SoCon selection (2017)• Tied for a team best six assists on the season• Six helpers tied for fourth in the Southern Conference• Tallied assists in each of the Spartans' two goals against Mercer• Assisted on four of UNCG's six goals from October 19-29th

Brendan Pulley
Second Team All-SoCon Goalkeeper

Southern Conference All-FreshmanFreshman | Goalkeeper | Holly Springs, N.C. • First career All-SoCon selection• Led the conference with a 0.98 goals against average• .895 save percentage against SoCon opponents was a conference best• Had a league-high four clean sheets in SoCon-play• Finished the year with 30 saves; collecting four or more stops on four separate occasions

Matthew Skinner
Southern Conference All-FreshmanFreshman | Defense | Charlotte, N.C.• First career SoCon postseason honor• Finished the season with three points; one goal and one assist• Started in four of the Spartans' five clean sheets on the year• First career goal against UNCA proved the game-winner• Assisted on UNCG's first goal against Belmont

After posting a 5-1-0 record in the conference season, first-year Head Coach Chris Rich has led the Spartans to their first SoCon Regular Season Championship title since 2015, as the side remains a single step away from becoming unified champions for the first time since 2010. UNCG just recently defeated No. 6 seed Belmont in a 3-2 overtime decision this past Sunday, and can add a SoCon Tournament Championship trophy to this year's list of accolades with a win over No. 4 Mercer at UNCG Soccer Stadium, at 6 p.m.

This press release was produced by UNC Greensboro Athletics. The views expressed here are the author’s own.