Complete United Soccer Coaches All-America Team
Four Centennial Conference men's soccer players have been named to the 2019 United Soccer Coaches All-America Team, announced Thursday on the eve of the 2019 NCAA Division III Championship semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Franklin & Marshall senior defender Connor Whitacre and Johns Hopkins junior midfielder R.J. Moore earned first team honors, Haverford senior forward Nick Jannelli was named to the second team, and JHU junior midfielder Alejandro MacLean collected third team laurels.
A total 47 men received All-America recognition. This year’s All-Americans will be formally acknowledged for their accomplishments at the United Soccer Coaches All-America Ceremony & Reception on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020 at the Baltimore Convention Center in conjunction with the United Soccer Coaches Convention.
Whitacre anchored one of the nation's top defensive units for F&M, garnering All-Centennial Conference (CC) and All-Region First Team honors as well. The two-time team captain led an F&M backline that posted a CC-leading 0.65 goals-against average mark. He started in all 21 games for a Diplomat team that reached as high as No. 3 in the nation, helping to pace a defense that produced nine shutouts on the year. The Diplomats qualified for their seventh-consecutive NCAA Tournament – a streak unmatched in the history of the Centennial Conference. F&M tallied a 17-3-1 overall mark which tied the program's single-season record for victories.
Jannelli, who was a third-team selection a year ago, is the first two-time All-American at Haverford to be recognized by the United Soccer Coaches (previously NSCAA) in nearly 60 years. Earlier this fall, Jannelli became just the second player ever to win multiple Centennial Conference Player of the Year honors. He led the CC with 30 points (11g, 8a). Jannelli capped his career as a four-time All-Centennial Conference selection, earning first-team All-CC accolades three times.
Jannelli finished his Haverford career with 45 goals scored to go along with 24 assists. He holds the school record both game-winning goals (16) and penalty kicks made (11) for a career and became the first Ford this Century to crack the 100-point barrier for his career as he was just the sixth player in program history to ever accomplish that feat.
Moore and Maclean led the Blue Jays to a 17-3-1 record, the program's ninth Centennial Conference Championship and a trip to the NCAA Second Round. The 17 wins are tied for the third most in school history. Hopkins was ranked as high as third this season by the United Soccer Coaches.
A three-time All-Centennial Conference selection and 2017 CC Rookie of the Year, Moore earns his first career All-America honor. He tied for the team lead, and was tied for eighth in the conference, in assists (5) this season. Moore is tied for 13th in program history with 15 career assists. He also tied for fourth on the team in points (11) in 2019. He is the first Blue Jay to earn First Team United Soccer Coaches All-America honors since Matty Carlson (2007) and is just the sixth all-time.
After earning All-Mid-Atlantic honors for the first time in his career, Maclean adds All-America accolades to his resume as well. A two-time All-Centennial Conference honoree, he was named the CC Tournament MVP after scoring the game-winning goal in the final. Maclean finished the season tied for fourth on the team in goals (4) and sixth in points (9). Three of his four goals this season were game-winners.