SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Nov. 2, 2023) – The postseason awards poured in for the regular season champion. 
 
On Thursday, the Southern Conference announced its postseason men's soccer awards, and the Buccaneers racked up the accolades. Tarik Pannholzer was named co-Player of the Year, Cole Hunter won his second straight Goalkeeper of the Year award and David Lilly was named co-Coach of the Year. 
 
In total, 10 Buccaneers earned postseason honors. 
 
Joining Pannholzer and Hunter on the first team all-SoCon team was midfielder Gabriel Ramos and defender Chris McKenna. Earning spots on the second team all-conference list were Kieran Richards (forward), Henrik Guenther (defender) and Yves Tcheuyap (defender). Louie Salkeld and Nico Kross were both named to the all-freshman team. 
 
Lilly, who is the second Buccaneer to earn SoCon Coach of the Year honor, led the Bucs to a regular season conference title – the first since 2017. The Blue & Gold went unbeaten in league play as ETSU finished 4-0-1. Overall, ETSU finished 9-5-2, while winning its last six matches and being unbeaten in its last seven. Lilly joins Bo Oshoniyi (2016 & 2017) and Scott Calabrese (2010, ASUN) as Buccaneer leaders to earn Coach of the Year honors. Lilly served as an assistant to both Oshoniyi and Calabrese. 
 
Pannholzer is the second ETSU student-athlete to earn SoCon Player of the Year honors as Joao Ramalhoreceived the award in 2014. The Buccaneer forward is the third Buccaneer in program history to pick up the honor as David Geno was named ASUN Player of the Year in 2012. This season, Pannholzer started all 16 matches, while totaling five goals and five assists. Two of the goals went for game-winners as he scored and assisted on a goal in the 6-0 win over UNCG on Oct. 6 and led the Bucs to a 2-1 win over Winthrop on Oct. 17. Pannholzer generated at least one point in the final four matches of the regular season as he had goals in three straight games against VMI, Winthrop and Furman and assisted on the game-winning goal in last Saturday's win over Mercer. Pannholzer ranked third in the SoCon in shots (38) and shots on goal (19), he was tied for the third in game-winning goals, ranked sixth in goals, seventh in points (13) and was tied for seventh in assists. Following his five goals, five assists and 13 points this season, Pannholzer has moved up the career list among Buccaneer leaders. Pannholzer is now second all-time in points (58), tied for second in goals (23) and tied for fourth in assists (12).  To go with his Player of the Year award, Pannholzer earned his third straight first team all-SoCon honor.
 
Hunter joins former Buccaneer Jonny Sutherland as the only two players in SoCon history to win back-to-back Goalkeeper of the Year honors. This season, Hunter started 12 matches and went 8-3-1 in those contests. The Mount Juliet, Tenn. native registered six shutouts and allowed just seven goals in 1,080 minutes played. Hunter totaled 46 saves and had a save percentage of .868 and a goals against average of 0.58. Hunter ranks fourth nationally in save percentage, fifth in goals against average and 22nd in shutouts. For his ETSU career, Hunter has played in 27 matches and has recorded 15 wins to go along with 13 clean sheets. Hunter also has a 0.76 goals against average and an .804 save percentage. The Buccaneer keeper ranks third all-time in shutouts and fourth in wins, while he's the current leader in save percentage and goals against average. 
 
Ramos and McKenna each picked up their first all-SoCon team honor. 
 
In his fourth season with the Bucs, Ramos started in all 16 matches this year, logging 1,174 minutes. Ramos leads the team in goals (6) and points (16), while ranking second in assists (5). Ramos scored in the Bucs' season-opening 1-0 win over Georgia Southern, while notching a brace against UNCG. The brace ignited a stretch where Ramos had four goals and an assist over a four-match run where ETSU defeated UNCG, Gardner-Webb, VMI and Winthrop. During that surge, Ramos was tabbed SoCon Player of the Week and NCAA National Player of the Week. 
 
McKenna has had a stellar season in his first year in the Blue & Gold. The Buccaneer defender has registered four goals and two assists in 14 matches (12 starts). McKenna posted goals in back-to-back wins over Radford and Presbyterian, while adding a goal and an assist in the 6-0 victory over UNCG and capping off regular season play with the dramatic goal against Mercer last Saturday night. McKenna played all 90 minutes in eight matches, while being part of six clean sheets. The ETSU graduate transfer earned two SoCon Defensive Player of the Week honors – the first coming on Sept. 19 and the second coming this past week for his game-winning score with three seconds remaining versus Mercer. 
 
Richards collected his second straight all-conference accolade as he registered four goals and two assists in 14 matches (13 starts) for the Blue & Gold this season. Richards scored his first goal of the season off a penalty kick against USC Upstate and added a score and an assist against UNCG. The Buccaneer forward finished the season with back-to-back goals against Furman and Mercer. For his career, Richards has 22 goals, 12 assists and 56 points in 66 games played. Richards ranks third all-time among Buccaneer leaders in points and goals and is tied for fourth in assists. 
 
Defenders Henrik Guenther and Yves Tcheuyap each landed a spot on the second team all-conference team. The Buccaneer duo combined to play 2,290 minutes. Guenther played in 15 matches with 11 starts and Tcheuyap started all 16 matches and led the team in minutes played (1,403). Guenther totaled two assists and Tcheuyap recorded his first collegiate goal and assist this season. The Buccaneer defenders helped play a key role in tallying seven clean sheets and limiting the opposition to 12 goals scored in regular season play. Tcheuyap was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 17 after the Bucs shutout both Gardner-Webb and VMI. 
 
Playing their first season of collegiate soccer, both Salkeld and Kross landed spots on the all-freshman team. Salkeld played in 15 matches with eight starts, while posting one goal and one assist. Kross was another leader on ETSU's defense as he started 15 matches – logging 1,236 minutes. Kross tallied two assists in his rookie campaign and earned SoCon Defensive Player of the Week honors on Aug. 29. 
 
Wofford's Joel Tyson earned co-Coach of the Year honors with Lilly, while Wofford's Nikolai Rojel was named co-Player of the Year with Pannholzer. Mercer's Barzee Blama was named Freshman of the Year.
 
ETSU begins play in the SoCon Tournament on Sunday when the top-seeded Buccaneers host the winner of No. 4 UNCG/No. 5 Mercer in the semifinals at 3 p.m. at Summers-Taylor Stadium. 
 
For more information on Buccaneer men's soccer, please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's soccer tab.