Four Mustangs Named NSCAA All-Midwest Region

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DALLAS (SMU) – SMU men’s soccer players Diogo de Almeida and Arthur Ivo have been named to the 2011 NSCAA All-Midwest Region first team, and Juan Castillo and T.J. Nelson have been tabbed Second Team All-Midwest Region.

de Almeida was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, was selected First Team All-C-USA and was named the Defensive MVP of the C-USA Tournament. The defender started 20 games for the Mustangs this season, netting four goals and averaging over 92.5 minutes per game. He had a three-game goal-scoring streak from Oct. 12-21, including back-to-back game-winning goals against FIU and Missouri State.

Ivo was a First Team All-Conference USA selection for the second consecutive season and was named the Offensive MVP of the C-USA Tournament. The midfielder appeared in 20 games for SMU, leading the team in goals (10), assists (10) and points (30). He also had a team-best four game-winning goals, including overtime game-clinchers at Duke and South Carolina.

Castillo made his second appearance on the All-Conference USA second team in as many seasons. The sophomore played in 17 games at forward for the Mustangs, tallying five goals and assisting on three others. Three of Castillo’s tallies were game-winners; against Dartmouth in overtime, at No. 18 UCLA and at Tulsa. He was second in both goals and points (13) for the Mustangs.

Nelson was also selected Second Team All-C-USA. The midfielder started all 21 games for the Mustangs this year, playing 1874 of a possible 1950 minutes on the season. Nelson earned as assist on the game-winning goal against South Carolina in the C-USA semifinals and collected a helper against No. 14 UCF.

The Mustangs won the Conference USA Championship, were the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and posted a 13-7-1 record on the season.