SPARTANBURG, S.C. – UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer senior midfielder Yoshiya Okawa and freshman midfielder Issah Haruna earned Southern Conference (SoCon) Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively, the league announced Thursday.

In addition to Okawa and Haruna, five other student-athletes from the UNCG men's soccer team were recognized with all-conference honors. Senior midfielder Jack Birch and sophomore forward Arnaud Tattevin joined Okawa on the first team while sophomore forward Enzo Dovlo and junior defender Daniel Longo were named to the second team alongside Haruna. Also joining Haruna on the freshman team was freshman defender Mohammed Sumaila.

The Spartans are heading into the SoCon Tournament as the top seed for the first time since 2022, when they won it to advance to the NCAA Tournament. UNCG is 10-2-4 overall this season and is undefeated at home for the first time since 2002 with an 8-0-1 record. The Spartans finished the regular season as co-champions with ETSU after both teams finished 3-1-1 in the conference.

Yoshiya Okawa
SoCon Player of the Year
All-SoCon First Team
Senior | Midfielder | Tokyo, Japan

• Leads SoCon in goals (8) and points (20)
• Has 15 games played and 12 starts
• TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week (Oct. 15)
• Second on the team in shots (22) and shots on goal (12)
• Leads the team with a .364 shot percentage

Issah Haruna
SoCon Freshman of the Year
All-SoCon Second Team
All-SoCon Freshman Team
Freshman | Midfielder | Bolgatanga, Ghana

• Ranks fourth on the Spartans with nine points
• Has three goals and three assists
• Ranked No. 96 in TopDrawerSoccer's Freshman Top 100 (Oct. 18)
• TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week Honorable Mention (Oct. 22)
• Leads UNCG freshmen with 949 minutes in 15 matches with 12 starts

Arnaud Tattevin
All-SoCon First Team
Sophomore | Forward | Rennes, France

• Second on the Spartans with seven goals and 16 points
• SoCon Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 22)
• Leads the team with 31 shots and 18 shots on goal
• One of two Spartans who are one-for-one on penalty kicks
• All-SoCon Preseason Team (Aug. 13)

Jack Birch
All-SoCon First Team
Senior | Midfielder | Birmingham, England

• Fifth on the team with two goals and two assists for six points
• Second on the team with 1,374 minutes played
• Has played and started all 16 games
• Played all 90 minutes in 11 matches this season
• All-SoCon Second Team (2021)

Enzo Dovlo
All-SoCon Second Team
Sophomore | Forward | Strasbourg, France

• Tied for the team lead with three game-winning goals
• Is third on the team with 16 points (5g, 4a)
• Tied for the most assists on the team at four
• Two-time SoCon Offensive Player of the Week (Aug. 27 & Nov. 5)
• All-SoCon Freshman Team (2023)

Daniel Longo
All-SoCon Second Team
Junior | Defender | Woodbridge, Ontario

• Scored one goal, the game-winner at Virginia (Oct. 1)
• Leads UNCG defenders with a goal and an assist for three points
• Has played in 16 matches and made 15 starts
• Helped UNCG earn 22nd-best shutout percentage (.438) in nation
• Fourth on the team in minutes played (1,325)

Mohammed Sumaila
All-SoCon Freshman Team
Freshman | Defender | Tamale, Ghana

• Has played in all 16 matches and made eight starts
• Second among freshmen in minutes played (803)
• Earned first collegiate point with assist in season opener (Aug. 22)
• Played all 90 minutes six times this season
• Second among UNCG defenders and freshmen with five shots

Player of the Year - Yoshiya Okawa, Sr., MF, UNCG
Goalkeeper of the Year - Aaron Salinas, So., Furman
Coach of the Year - Allen Vital, ETSU
Freshman of the Year - Issah Haruna, MF, UNCG

First Team
F - Gabriel Ramos, ETSU
F - Christian Kraus, Furman
F - Arnaud Tattevin, UNCG
MF - Carlos Santamaria, Mercer
MF - Jack Birch, UNCG
MF - Yoshiya Okawa, UNCG
MF - Paul Jones, Wofford
D - Ivan Agyaakwah, Furman
D - Slade Starnes, Furman
D - Sekou Agard, Mercer
GK - Aaron Salinas, Furman

Second Team
F - Wilfer Bustamante, Furman
F -  Lloyd Wamu Snell, Furman
F - Barzee Blama, Mercer
F - Enzo Dovlo, UNCG
MF - Luke Hutzell, Furman
MF - Issah Haruna, UNCG
MF - Jakob Andersson, Wofford
D - Louie Salkeld, ETSU
D - Daniel Longo, UNCG
D - Bryce Peacock, Wofford
GK - Trevor McMullen, Mercer

All-Freshman
Oliver Einarsson, MF, ETSU
Ulysses Hendriks, MF, ETSU
Ingvar Kolbjornsen, MF, ETSU
Wilfer Bustamante, F, Furman
Luke Hutzell, MF, Furman
Ryan Wagner, D, Furman
Aaron Pondeca, F, Mercer
Issah Haruna, MF, UNCG
Mohammed Sumaila, D, UNCG
Anthony Huang, F, VMI
Leo Ledin, GK, Wofford
Kalle Rahbek, MF, Wofford

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UNCG earned a first-round bye to the semifinals as the top seed for the 2024 SoCon Tournament and will compete on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2:00 p.m. in Greensboro. The Spartans will face the winner of Friday's quarterfinal matchup between fourth-seed Furman and fifth-seed Mercer, which starts at 7:00 p.m. at UNCG Soccer Stadium.