EIGHT COBRAS EARN ALL-SAC NODS, COBRAS TAKE THREE OF FOUR INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Rock Hill, SC - The 2024 South Atlantic Conference Co-Champions have earned eight of their starting eleven on an All-SAC team along with taking three of the four individual awards in what has been a record-breaking season for the squad.

Four of the eight selected earned first-team honors, a record number for any team here at Coker in the South Atlantic Conference. They are as follows:

F - Frederic Benedix - JR
MF - Youri Keijser - SR
MF - Jorhan Chopin - JR
D - Matty Tricker - SR

Another three of their eight selections fell in the second team. They are as follows:

F - Oskar Kaufmann - FR
F - Vitalis Takawira Jr. - JR
D - Yvan Malarte - FR

The remaining member of the All-SAC team was senior defender Lukas Berntsson, who earned third-team honors.

Along with this plethora of All-Conference nods, the Cobras had three seletced for indivitual awards: Oskar Kaufmann took home SAC Freshman of the Year honors, Matty Tricker was named SAC Defensive Player of the Year, and head coach Michael Antoniewicz was named the SAC Coach of the year.

Kaufmann was a standout during his freshman campaign with the Cobras, leading the team with 11 goals and 29 points. His seven assists were second on the team. The Stockholm, Sweden native posted three braces on the year which came against Carson-Newman, Lincoln Memorial, and Wingate. He registered a pair of assists in a SAC Quarterfinal win over Catawba on Saturday night.

Tricker, a senior from Ipswich, England, led a backline that permitted just 14 goals in 16 matches on the season which amounts to a stingy 0.88 goals allowed per game. The highlight for Tricker and the Cobras came in the month of October where they gave up just two goals in seven matches, all Coker wins. Offensively, Tricker had two goals and an assist.

In his sixth season leading the Cobras, Antoniewicz led his team to a share of the first SAC Regular Season Championship in program history. His squad finished 10-1-1 in league play to tie with Limestone atop the standings and went 14-1-1 overall. After dropping a 1-0 match against Limestone on Sept. 14, Coker has reeled off 13 straight without a loss including a 10-match winning streak. Coker led the SAC in goals scored (47), assists (46), and points (140) and is fourth in the nation in each of those categories. Antoniewicz wanted to make it very apparent that this is a "staff and team award" and that "none of this could've been done without the amazing staff he has and the quality players to execute the vision".

The Cobras season is hopefully far from over. They will play a SAC semifinal match on Friday and, should they win that match-up, will play a SAC final on Sunday. After the conclusion of the SAC tournament, they will set their sites on the national tournament, with a possible host bid at stake.

To read the full release from the SAC, click here.