Covenant's Simakoff, Mackey Collect USA South Honors
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Covenant men's soccer junior Carl Simakoff earned All-USA South honorable mention and senior Nate Mackey was the Scots' representative on the All-Sportsmanship team, as the conference unveiled its All-Conference awards on Wednesday.
All awards are voted on by the men's soccer coach at each institution. Greensboro junior Carlos Barragan was named the conference's Player of the Year, while Methodist freshman Zvi Ferrari was the Rookie of the Year. Maryville's Pepe Fernandez snagged the Coach of the Year honors after leading Maryville to a West Division title.
The honor for Simakoff is his first career All-Conference honor. It is the second straight year that Mackey has been named to the All-Sportsmanship team.
Simakoff, a junior from St. Louis, Mo., currently leads the team in goals scored with six on the year, to go along with one assist. The junior has come on strong towards the latter part of the regular season and into postseason play as he has notched three goals and an assist in Covenant's last two matches. It was Simakoff's goal in the first half on Saturday at Piedmont that was the eventual game-winner in the Scots' 3-0 victory in the USA South Tournament quarterfinals. Simakoff also had a two-goal match against Berea in the regular season finale.
Mackey, a senior from Rutherfordton, N.C., collects his second All-Sportsmanship honor. The senior captain has played a key role for the Scots throughout the season at his midfield spot as he has played in 20 matches and made 14 starts.
Covenant (9-11-1) will travel to face No. 1 East seed North Carolina Wesleyan in a USA South Tournament semifinal on Friday, Nov. 3 in Rocky Mount, N.C. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m.