Eight V-Hawks Named to All-Conference Teams
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The Continental Athletic Conference (CAC) announced the 2022 All-Conference Teams and special awards on Thursday. Viterbo claimed the second most All-Conference selections with eight, earned one special award, and named a Champion of Character.
Ernesto Ascenzo (Jr., GK, Lima, Peru) was named the CAC Goalkeeper of the Year as well as First-Team All-Conference. He earned the honor for allowing only five goals on the season in 1080 minutes played for a goals-against-average of .42, saving 36 shots for a .878 save percentage, and shuting out eight teams en route to a 11-1-0 record. Ascenzo was an All-CAC Honorable Mention a year ago and is the first Conference Goalkeeper of the Year in Viterbo history. He was the CAC Defensive Player of the Week twice this year.
Matteo Galeotti (Sr. D, Parma, Italy) was a repeat First-Team selection from last season. He was an integral part of the defense, which was one of the best in Viterbo history, and added five assists on the year, tied for the second most on the team.
Conner Erdmann (So., M, East Troy, Wis.) builds on his Second-Team selection from last season to earn First-Team Midfielder this year. He was tied for the fourth most amount of points on the team with 13, coming from four goals and five assists.
Jacob Battista (Jr., F, Melbourne, Australia) led the V-Hawks in points with 20, which was also the fourth best in the CAC. The 20 points came from seven goals and six assists. This is Battista's first All-Conference accolade.
Benjamin Hoffman (Gr. D, Pretoria, South Africa) was the final V-Hawk to earn First-Team laurels. Hoffman scored three goals and dished out five assists for 11 points in his very successful first season as a V-Hawk, in which he was vital to Viterbo's lock-down defense.
Alfie Gyurkovits (Sr., M, Cranage, England) earned All-Conference recognition for the third time in his career (2021-CAC Honorable Mention, 2020-A.I.I. All Conference). Gyurkovits tied the team high of seven goals and added two assists on the year for 16 points, second-best on the team.
Jasper Bruisten (Gr., M, Nijmegen, Netherlands) handed out a team-high six assists in his first season for Viterbo, while scoring three goals of his own, earning Second-Team CAC.
Benian Yao (Jr., D, Waxhaw, NC) was the final V-Hawks to earn All-Conference, being named a Second-Team defender. He was the essential in the V-Hawks stifling defense, and scored four goals on the year. Yao was named the CAC Defensive Player of the Week once this year.
Michael Ohana (Gr., D, Nakuru, Kenya) was selected as the Viterbo Champion of Character for embodying the NAIA's five core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership both on and off the field.
"Congratulations to these guys for the outstanding seasons they have had so far. They are all fully deserving of these accolades and have earned their recognition," said Head Coach Luke Dunn. "Typically, individual success is accompanied by team success and this is no different. The great season the team has had so far as a whole had allowed these guys to shine and have the opportunity to produce these performances."
Viterbo takes on Florida National University on Friday in the first round of the CAC Conference Tournament. The winner will take on the winner of the Georgia Gwinnett-Bellevue (Neb.) game on Saturday in the Championship game. Both finalists will earn the CAC's automatic bids to the NAIA national tournament.
For full All-Conference teams and awards, click here.