TEXARKANA, Texas – The Louisiana Christian University men's soccer program has even more accomplishments to celebrate as they patiently wait for Selection Saturday as Seniors Adrian Amoros Navarro (First Team) and Sergio Pita Martin (Second Team), junior Lucas Lima (First Team) and first-years Pedro Sao Tiago (All-Freshman Team) and Gabriel Zuniga (All-Freshman Team / RRAC Champions of Character Team) added to their individual trophy cases on Thursday morning.
Amoros Navarro, a midfielder from Alicante, Valencia, Spain, put the cherry on top of his third straight All-RRAC First Team accolade by going back-to-back as the Conference Tournament MVP as well. The future LCU Hall of Famer led the Cats in assists (0.31), shots (3.06) and shots-on-goal (1.88) per match while tying for the SOGs in a season at 32, ranking second for total shot attempts (53), having the fourth-most assists (6) and adding himself to the tenth spot regarding points (20) after a monster Championship Game that saw him post a goal, an assist, and four shots (two on-target).
Lima, a right back from Rio Claro, Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been given the highest honors in the conference each season since arriving in Pineville, claiming All-Freshman Team odds then back-to-back First Team recognition. The player responsible for the Championship-winning goal led the Orange and Blue with six assists, the fourth-highest tally in school history and was one of the team's captains, serving as a general on the pitch, especially after the loss of their other captain Joao Pedro Giraldez Franco on Senior Night.
Pita Martin, a winger / striker from Madrid, Spain, still clawed his way to a Second Team bid despite being hampered by an injury that kept him out of four contests. The Spanish Striker warranted a new nickname in 2024 . . . The Penalty Kick King . . . as a program record four of his seven goals came on PKs including two of the three game-winners he had, which came in back-to-back 1-0 victories over Jarvis Christian and Texas College.
Sao Tiago, a forward from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, lit the world on fire over his first five games as a collegian, averaging 2.4 points (12 total) during that span in which he netted four goals and four assists en route to RRAC Offensive Player of the Week recognition on September 2. His four go-ahead scores tie him with Martin (twice) and Alvaro Tudanca in 2021 for the most ever in one year, he became just the sixth player ever to reach double-digit goals (10), secured the fifth-most points (24), and the sixth-highest shot total (47) with the NAIA Tournament still to go.
Zuniga, a center back from Costa Rica, pulled double duty for awards as both an All-Freshman Team selection and the Wildcats' Champions of Character representative. While he might not have had gaudy stats, two shots all season, he made up for with ferocious defense that saw him help the squad register a 0.99 goals against average including all three games in the RRAC Tournament plus nine shutouts as a unit, second only to last season's club that had nine.
The anxious and nervousness of a squad on the bubble has been eliminated as they can now sit back, relax and enjoy the revealing of who and where they will play in the 2024 NAIA Tournament, scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. on the Urban Edge Network here.
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