All-ACC Men’s Soccer Team and 2021 individual awards revealed

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Duke and Pitt combined to take the five season awards as the 2021 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Soccer Team was released Wednesday following a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches.

Duke sophomore forward Thorleifur Ulfarsson earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors, and Pitt graduate defender Jasper Löeffelsend was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. Duke sophomore midfielder Peter Stroud was voted ACC Midfielder of the Year, while his teammate, midfielder Shakur Mohammed earned ACC Freshman of the Year honors. Pitt head coach Jay Vidovich was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Pitt led all schools with eight All-ACC selections, including six of the 11 picks on the second team. Clemson had five picks, while Wake Forest picked up four honorees. Löeffelsend and Notre Dame junior forward Jack Lynn each were selected to the All-ACC First Team for the second straight season.

Ulfarsson is the first Duke player to win Offensive Player of the Year honors since Andrew Wenger in 2011. A native of Kopavogur, Iceland, Ulfarsson is tied for the ACC lead with 13 goals this season, despite playing just 12 games. He is second in total points with 27. Nine of his goals this season have come against ACC opponents, most of anyone in the league.

Löeffelsend is the first player to repeat as Defensive Player of the Year since Wake Forest’s Ike Opara in 2008-09. The native of Cologne, Germany, spearheads a stout Pitt defense from his right back position. He also has contributed two goals and eight assists this season. He is tied for the ACC lead in assists.

A native of Chester, New Jersey, Stroud has played in all 16 Duke matches, with 15 starts, and owns three goals and three assists this season from the Blue Devils’ central midfield.

Mohammed, a native of Kumasi, Ghana, has tallied three goals and six assists this season. His six assists are the most by a Duke freshman since Max Moser had seven in 2016. Mohammed also earned a spot on the All-ACC Second Team and is one of only two freshmen on the All-ACC Team this season, joining Louisville’s Sander Roed (third team).

Vidovich was named ACC Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his career. He also was voted the league’s coach of the year five times during his tenure at Wake Forest (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009). Vidovich led the Panthers to a share of the ACC Coastal Division championship for the second straight season, and Pitt earned the No. 1 seed in the ACC Championship.

The 2021 ACC Championship continues Wednesday with the semifinal matches. Top-seeded Pitt entertains No. 5 seed Notre Dame at 5 p.m. in the first semifinal, while No. 2 seed Clemson plays host to No. 3 seed Duke at 7 p.m.. Both matches will be broadcast on ACC Network. The championship match is slated for 2 p.m. Sunday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. ESPNU has the broadcast.

The ACC has six teams among the top 25 in the NCAA’s latest RPI, twice as many as any other conference. Pitt, Clemson and Duke are Nos. 4, 5 and 6, respectively. Notre Dame is No. 14. North Carolina is No. 20 in the RPI, while Virginia Tech is No. 22.

2021 ACC Men’s Soccer Award Winners
Offensive Player of the Year – Thorleifur Ulfarsson, So., F, Duke
Defensive Player of the Year – Jasper Löeffelsend, Gr., D, Pitt
Midfielder of the Year – Peter Stroud, So., M, Duke
Freshman of the Year – Shakur Mohammed, M, Duke
Coach of the Year – Jay Vidovich, Pitt

2021 All-ACC Team

First Team
Oskar Ågren, Clemson
Peter Stroud, Duke
Thorleifur Ulfarsson, Duke
Aboubacar Camara, Louisville
Pedro Fonseca, Louisville
Alec Smir, North Carolina
Jack Lynn, Notre Dame
Jasper Löeffelsend, Pitt
DeAndre Kerr, Syracuse
Jacob Labovitz, Virginia Tech
Kyle Holcomb, Wake Forest

Second Team
Hamady Diop, Clemson
George Marks, Clemson
Ousmane Sylla, Clemson
Shakur Mohammed, Duke
Rodrigo Almeida, Pitt
Bertin Jacquesson, Pitt
Valentin Noel, Pitt
Arturo Ordoñez, Pitt
Veljko Petkovic, Pitt
Jackson Walti, Pitt
Leo Afonso, Virginia

Third Team
Victor Souza, Boston College
Quinn McNeil, Clemson
Sander Roed, Louisville
Joe Pickering, North Carolina
Filippo Zattarin, North Carolina
Philip Quinton, Notre Dame
Nico Campuzano, Pitt
Mayola Kinyua, Virginia Tech
Nico Benalcazar, Wake Forest
Omar Hernandez, Wake Forest
Jake Swallen, Wake Forest

All-Freshman Team
Aidan Farwell, Boston College
Ruben Mesalles, Duke
Shakur Mohammed, Duke
Sander Roed, Louisville
Ken Bellini, North Carolina
Tega Ikoba, North Carolina
Josh Ramsey, Notre Dame
Matthew Roou, Notre Dame
Guilherme Feitosa, Pitt
Curt Calov, Syracuse
Asparuh Slavov, Virginia
Danny Flores, Virginia Tech