The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Gbandi, de Oliveira Headline Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams
11/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 10, 2004
IRVING, Texas - UAB Junior midfielder Leandro de Oliveira and junior defender Sandy Gbandi were named First Team All-Conference USA today as the postseason awards were announced by the league. Senior midfielder Rogerio Oliveira and freshman defender Joe Klosterman were named to the All-Conference Third Team as well on the eve of the league's postseason tournament. Klosterman was also named to the All-Freshman squad as voted upon by league coaches.
The four have led UAB to an 11-6 overall mark, and a 7-2 and second place regular season finish in C-USA. The Blazers have a first-round bye in the 2004 Dr. Mark Lynn & Associates PLLC Conference USA Tournament which begins with quarterfinals play Thursday night at Cardinal Park in Louisville, Ky. UAB faces the Cincinnati-Charlotte winner at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday night in the tournament semifinals.
"We are very proud of these four young men and what they have contributed to our program this season," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "We proved again that we are one of the better teams in Conference USA, finishing second in the regular season, and we're honored that the coaches around the league recognize some of our players as all-conference performers. As with every team, we thought we might have had one or two more who deserved the honor, but all teams have similar arguments. This is a great honor for the hard work and commitment these four have put in this season."
de Oliveira was the league's preseason Co-Offensive Player of the Year and lived up to the billing. He leads the Blazers with five goals and eight assists on the season and is one of the key reasons UAB is the second most potent offense in C-USA. The honor was the second First Team award for de Oliveira, who was also on the top squad in 2003. Gbandi, the captain of the UAB defense, has led a unit which has registered seven shutouts on the season and allowed just barely above 1.00 goals per game versus its opponents. Oliveira is the central midfielder on the offensive unit and has notched a goal and three assists on the season. Klosterman proved to be an immediate impact freshman who helped anchor the Blazers' stingy defense.
Junior forward Dayton O'Brien and senior goalkeeper Sebastian Vecchio of the 2004 Conference USA regular season champion Memphis Tigers were selected the conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year. Memphis head coach Richie Grant, whose team won the regular season, was named 2004 C-USA Coach of the Year. Simon Schoendorf and Rodrigo Hidalgo of USF were named co-Freshmen of the Year for the league.
2004 Conference USA All-Conference First Team
F Will John, Saint Louis
F Dayton O'Brien, Memphis
F Adam Ruud, Charlotte
MF John DiRaimondo, Saint Louis
MF Daniel Dobson, Memphis
MF Floyd Franks, Charlotte
MF Leandro de Oliveira, UAB
MF Ryan Wileman, Saint Louis
D Justin Dyer, Memphis
D Sandi Gbandi, UAB
D Kareem Smith, USF
GK Sebastian Vecchio, Memphis
All-Conference Second Team
F Chris Lee, Marquette
F Andy Metcalf, Memphis
F Wiremu Patrick, Cincinnati
MF Keeron Benito, USF
MF Jeff Hughes, Cincinnati
MF John Liersemann, Cincinnati
MF Simon Schoendorf, USF
D Brett Branan, Saint Louis
D Matt Neeley, Louisville
D Tim Ward, Saint Louis
GK Dane Brenner, USF
All-Conference Third Team
F Terron Amos, East Carolina
F David Guzman, Louisville
F Rodrigo Hidalgo, USF
F Hunter West, USF
MF Bryan Dahlquist, Marquette
MF John Kornfeld, DePaul
MF Rogerio Oliveira, UAB
MF John Reilly, Memphis
D Ewen Blair, Cincinnati
D Gary Connolly, Memphis
D Joe Klosterman, UAB
D John Nabers, Charlotte
GK Mike Vessels, Cincinnati
All-Freshman Team
J.W. Gallagher, East Carolina
Brandon Gasparovic, Saint Louis
David Guzman, Louisville
Rodrigo Hidalgo, USF
Amir Ikner, Cincinnati
Christian Jiminez, USF
Joe Klosterman, UAB
John Kornfeld, DePaul
Adam Montgomery, Memphis
Simon Schoendorf, USF
Tim Ward, Saint Louis
Coach of the Year
Richie Grant, Memphis
Offensive Player of the Year
Dayton O'Brien, Memphis
Defensive Player of the Year
Sebastian Vecchio, Memphis
Co-Freshmen of the Year
Rodrigo Hidalgo, USF
Simon Schoendorf, USF
