Five members of the Virginia men’s soccer team earned 2015 All-ACC honors, as the all-conference and all-freshman teams were announced Tuesday by the conference following voting by the league’s 12 head coaches. It marks UVA’s most honorees since the 2006 season.
Midfielders Jake Rozhansky (So., Germantown, Md.) and Todd Wharton (Sr., Glen Allen, Va.) were named to the All-ACC second team, while goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell (So., Todd, N.C.) and forward Edward Opoku (Fr., Rye, N.Y.) earned third-team honors. Opoku was joined by Derrick Etienne (Fr., Paterson, N.J.) on the all-freshman team.
Rozhansky was an all-freshman team honoree in 2014. Playing in 12 matches including 11 starts in the UVA midfield, he leads the team with three goals, including game winners against NC State and James Madison. Rozhansky also scored in UVA’s draw at Duke.
Wharton becomes a two-time All-ACC honoree after claiming third-team honors in 2014. He also was named to the all-freshman team in 2012. The team captain has played the most minutes of any UVA field player (1,496) while starting all 16 matches. He owns a goal and three assists this season out of his holding midfield spot.
Caldwell is Virginia’s first goalkeeper to be named to the All-ACC squad since Brock Yetso in 1998. He has started all 16 matches and is the lone Cavalier to play every minute of the 2015 season. Caldwell owns six clean sheets and a 0.96 goals-against average while recording 51 saves, including a career-high seven stops in UVA’s ACC quarterfinal match at Notre Dame.
Opoku is the first UVA freshman to earn spots on both the All-ACC and ACC All-Freshman teams since Jordan Allen in 2013. He owns a pair of goals this year and had added three assists. The shifty forward scored goals in UVA’s wins over Portland and Pitt. He has played in all 16 matches, making 14 starts.
Etienne has scored a pair of goals – both game winners – and has totaled five points in his rookie season. He has played in 15 matches, while making nine starts including each of the last five games. He recorded UVA’s lone goals in road victories at VCU and Virginia Tech.
Virginia owns a 9-4-3 record on the season and tied for second place in the ACC Coastal Division with a 4-2-2 mark. The Cavaliers are off this week while awaiting their destination in the NCAA tournament next week. The selection show for the 48-team field is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday (Nov. 16) on NCAA.com. UVA is seeking its 35th-consecutive NCAA tournament selection, the longest current streak in Division I men’s soccer.
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Chris Graham
