Junior Karo Okiomah was named the 2010 Big South Men's Soccer Player of the Year and head coach Dustin Fonder was named Big South Coach of the Year the conference announced on Wednesday, headlining a list of 12 Big South awards won by HPU this season. Freshman Adam Sewell was named Big South Freshman of the Year and eight HPU players earned All-Big South honors.

Senior Scott Rojo, junior Michael Chesler and sophomores Shawn Sloan and Fejiro Okiomah joined Karo Okiomah on the All-Big South first team while junior Will Stewart, redshirt-sophomore Ryan Bennett and sophomore Todd Ray were named to the All-Big South second team. The five first-team all-conference honorees and the eight total all-conference honorees are both the most in High Point's 12 years in the Big South.

Senior Adam Hatem was named to the All-Academic team and Sewell and freshman Alex Martinez were each named to the All-Freshmen team.

“This is a tremendous honor for our team,” Fonder said. “It shows that the coaches in this conference have a lot of respect for these guys as players and people and we appreciate that. We feel both honored and humbled to garner these awards. This shows that we are headed in the right direction and we want to continue that trend and strive to be a program in the top tier of college soccer.”

Karo Okiomah scored 11 goals in just 13 contests this season for HPU, including a stretch of seven games in which he scored at least one goal. The junior finished tied for the Big South lead in goals scored and just one point shy of the lead in points with 24 despite playing in five less games than wither of the two conference leaders. The Big South Preseason Player of the Year, Karo Okiomah scored five goals in five conference games. He was named Big South Player of the Week on Nov. 5 after scoring three goals and recording two assists in wins over UNC Greensboro and Richmond.

“Karo is a great individual who is a leader for us both on and off the field,” Fonder said. “He serves as one of our captains and his work ethic pushes guys every day. This is a well deserved honor for him.”

“It was one of my goals since the beginning of the season to win this award and I am very excited I was able to do it,” Karo Okiomah said. “I wanted the team to do well and winning this award is a byproduct of that. Winning the Big South is the best and most important thing we have done this season and it is what has helped us get awards and recognition. When I was named Preseason Player of the Year I just wanted to live up to that title and I am very happy I was able to do that.”

Sewell is the second-straight High Point player to be named Big South Freshman of the Year after Sloan won the award in 2009. The defensive midfielder stepped into the starting lineup in the third game of the season and refused to relinquish his spot, starting each of the final 16 games of the season. Sewell rarely exited a match, averaging 84 minutes per game on the season. The freshman worked as High Point's primary ball winner in the midfield, covering tremendous ground and limiting opponents' possession. Sewell finished the regular season with three points on one goal and one assist.

“Adam came in and added another piece to our midfield,” Fonder said. “He didn't get a lot of glory through the stat sheet but the blue collar work he put in day in and day out was essential for us to achieve the results we have this season.”

Fonder earned his second-straight Big South Coach of the Year accolade after leading High Point to a 14-3-1 mark on the year and a perfect 8-0-0 record in the Big South. The Panthers outscored their conference opponents 23-4 and became the first Big South school ever to finish with 24 points in the conference season. Under his helm, High Point was the tied for fourth in the nation in goals scored with 45 in 18 games.

“I would like to thank my peers for selecting me as Coach of the Year this season,” Fonder said. “This is a great honor which I could not receive without the support of my wife and daughter who allow me to work the long hours required for this job. I also want to thank the administrative staff, my coaches and the players. Day in and day out they put in the hard work that is necessary to get results.”

Rojo leads the nation with 16 assists on the season, an HPU all-time single-season record. The senior is one point off the Big South lead with 24 points. Rojo has notched four games with multiple assists, including two games with three assists. He was named Co-Big South Player of the Week after a one goal, three assist performance in a 4-0 win over Gardner-Webb.

Chesler has started every game in goal for HPU this season, setting the HPU Division I single-season record for wins with 14 and goals-against average with a 0.87 mark. Chesler leads the Big South in goals-against average and in save percentage at .775. The junior has recorded a conference-best seven shutouts on the season, moving into the HPU Division I career lead with 14. Chesler also scored the first point of his career with an assist in a 5-0 win over Rider.

Sloan was named to the All-Big South first team for a second consecutive season after finishing the regular season with seven goals and seven assists. The sophomore led the Big south with 17 points on five goals and seven assists in Big South games. Sloan finished tied for second in the Big South in assists behind just Rojo. He was named Big South Player of the Week on Oct. 19 after scoring a goal and recording two assists to help HPU to wins over Radford and UNC Asheville.

Fejiro Okiomah was earned a place on the All-Big South first-team after finishing tied for the Big South lead with 25 points on 11 goals and three assists. The sophomore scored seven goals in the final six games of the regular season to charge into a tie for the Big South lead with 11. Fejiro Okiomah was named twice named Big South Player of the Week. First on Sept. 14 after a two goal, one assist week, then again on Nov. 2 after scoring in wins over Coastal Carolina and VMI to help High Point secure the Big South Regular Season title and a perfect 8-0-0 conference mark.

Bennett earned his first all-conference honor after starting every game of the season at left back and recording three goals and an assist. Bennett helped the High Point defense allow just 16 goals in 18 games, the fewest allowed by HPU in the school's DI era.

Stewart and Ray formed the best center back tandem in the Big South and played a large role in the Panthers' defense dominance over the season. The HPU backline allowed just 16 goals overall on the season and just four in Big South play. High Point allowed more than one goal only four times all season and held opponents to an average of just four shots on goal per game.

Martinez was one of the first players off the bench for HPU in his freshman campaign. The midfielder finished the year with four points on one goal and two assists. A skilled and energetic attacker, Martinez brought a different attacking dynamic to the game in his time on the pitch.

Hatem was named to the All-Academic team for the third-straight season. The senior played in all but one game this season, starting the final 12 games at right back for the Panthers and recording an assist in the 4-1 win over Richmond.

2009 BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE MEN'S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE AND AWARD WINNERS

Player of the Year
Karo Okiomah, High Point

Freshman of the Year
Adam Sewell, High Point

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Matt Horn, Winthrop

Coach of the Year
Dustin Fonder, High Point

FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Forwards
Karo Okiomah, High Point
Darren Amoo, Liberty
Iyiola Awosika, Radford

Midfielders
Ross Kelly, Coastal Carolina
Fejiro Okiomah, High Point
Philip Aseweh, Liberty
Shawn Sloan, High Point

Defenders
Alex Russell, Coastal Carolina
Jon Ole Reinhardsen, Gardner-Webb
Uriah Bentick, Liberty
James Leith, Radford

Goalkeeper
Michael Chesler, High Point

At-Large
Scott Rojo, F, High Point

SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Forwards
Nicolas Wrobel, Gardner-Webb
Amir Shihata, VMI
Miquel Casajuana, Winthrop

Midfielders
Justin Portillo, Coastal Carolina
Romeo Kabanda, Gardner-Webb
Brian Harding, VMI
Matt Stinson, Winthrop

Defenders
Ryan Bennett, High Point
Todd Ray, High Point
Will Stewart, High Point
Ayao Sassou, VMI

Goalkeeper
Lassi Hurskainen, UNC Asheville

At-Large
Scott Angevine, GK, Coastal Carolina

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Pedro Ribeiro, F, Coastal Carolina
Justin Portillo, MF, Coastal Carolina
Nicolas Wrobel, F, Gardner-Webb
Chris Davis, F, Gardner-Webb
Adam Sewell, MF, High Point
Alex Martinez, MF, High Point
Harrison Russell, MF, Presbyterian College
Bernardo Ulmo, MF, Radford
Luis Grande, MF, Radford
Kenneth Lingerfelt, F, UNC Asheville
Matt Stinson, MF, Winthrop
Tinotendo Chibharo, MF, Winthrop

All-Academic
Matt Horn, Winthrop
Phillip Aseweh, Liberty
Adam Hatem, High Point
Jake Sides, UNC Asheville
Romeo Kabanda, Gardner-Webb
Alex Russell, Coastal Carolina
Logan Huff, Presbyterian College
Anthony Payne, Radford
Sonny Landry, VMI