TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The 2024 All-Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) men's soccer teams and yearly award winners, as determined by vote of the league's 11 head coaches, were announced Tuesday evening. The teams were first revealed during an announcement show through the PAC Sports Network.

Earning PAC Offensive Player of the Year award was Allegheny College senior forward Brady Napoleon, while the coaches voted Franciscan senior midfielder Ryan Miller as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Waynesburg University freshman midfielder Sarpong Kwabiah was selected as the PAC Newcomer of the Year and Franciscan head coach Brent Ridenour was named the league's Coach of the Year.

Napoleon's honor is the first time an Allegheny player earned a top PAC award since the Gators returned to the conference prior to the 2022-23 academic year. Now a three-time First Team All-PAC selection, Napoleon earned the Offensive Player of the Year recognition after he erupted for 14 goals and 30 points in 10 PAC matches this fall. He posted three hat tricks during the season, all coming within a 15-day span to close the regular season and capped by a four-goal outburst in a 4-0 victory over Saint Vincent Oct. 30th.

Napoleon, who finished second in the league for the season with 18 overall goals and 38 points, continued his scoring blitz in the postseason. He scored twice, including the game-winner just 3:57 into the match, to propel Allegheny to a 5-0 victory over Chatham in the PAC Tournament Quarterfinals. In the process, Napoleon broke the Allegheny single-season record for goals, as his 18 surpassed the previous standard of 17 set in 1977 by David Nelson.

Miller helped pace a Franciscan defense which allowed just 18 goals in 19 matches overall, including seven in the 10 PAC regular season contests. The Barons opened conference play with three consecutive shutouts and finished with five clean sheets in PAC competition while holding 10 teams to single-digit shot attempts through the season.

A key two-way player, Miller, now a four-time All-PAC selection with back-to-back First Team laurels, was a major influence on the Barons' offense as well. He tied for fourth in the conference with nine goals, tied for second with eight assists and tied for third with 26 total points. Two of his goals came in the final regular season game of the season, including a goal with less than 10 seconds to play to give Franciscan a 2-2 draw with Geneva, which clinched the top seed in the PAC Tournament for the Barons.

Kwabiah had an instant impact in his freshman season at Waynesburg, becoming the first Yellow Jacket to earn the top Newcomer Award in the conference. His eight goals and 21 points led Waynesburg, as did his four game-winning goals, which also tied for second in the PAC. Over half of his production came against league opponents, as he scored five times and totaled 12 points in 10 PAC matches this year.

Also a Second Team All-PAC selection, Kwabiah secured PAC Offensive Player of the Week once during the season after he scored a pair of goals in a 5-3 victory over Westminster Sept. 25 and then recorded the game-winning goal in a 3-0 victory at Bethany Spet. 28.

Ridenour just completed his fourth year at the helm of the Franciscan program and is the first Baron coach to earn PAC Coach of the Year honors. It comes after he led the team to a 7-0-3 conference record and the top seed in the conference tournament. Once in the PAC Tournament, the Barons defeated Allegheny 4-2 in the semifinals and Grove City 2-1 in the title match to win the program's second conference crown in the last three years.

As the winner of this year's championship tournament, Franciscan (13-1-5) also received the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, which is the Barons' second trip to the NCAAs, with the first coming in 2022. Franciscan will face 19th-ranked Ohio Northern University in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday, November 16th at 3:30 p.m. The match will be hosted by Denison University in Granville, Ohio at Kienzle-Hylbert Field. 

The PAC also released its 2024 PAC Sportsmanship Team. The PAC Sportsmanship Teams were established to recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior and are an ongoing effort to recognize and encourage positive sportsmanship among all PAC teams.

PAC Award Winners
PAC Offensive Player of the Year: Allegheny senior forward Brady Napoleon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon)
PAC Defensive Player of the Year: Franciscan senior midfielder Ryan Miller (Galena, Ohio/Olentangy Berlin)
PAC Newcomer of the Year: Waynesburg freshman midfielder Sarpong Kwabiah (Odenton, Md./Meade)
PAC Coach of the Year: Franciscan head coach Brent Ridenour
 

All-PAC First Team
Name	School	Position	Year	Hometown/High School
Brady Napoleon	Allegheny	F	Sr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon
Azavier Coppin	Chatham	F	So.	Everett, Wash./Glacier Peak
Lucas Cross	Franciscan	F	Jr.	Clarkston, Mich./Everest Collegiate
Will Gruca	Allegheny	M	So.	Baden, Pa./Ambridge
Ryan Miller	Franciscan	M	Sr.	Galena, Ohio/Olentangy Berlin
Wil Dunda	Geneva	M	Jr.	Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley
Aidan Eck	Grove City	M	Jr.	Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian
Joseph St. George	Franciscan	D	Sr.	Ashburn, Va./Bishop O'Connell
Darren Main	Geneva	D	Sr.	Denver, Pa./Cocalico
Camden Thomas	Grove City	D	Jr.	North Lima, Ohio/South Range
Teddy Almeter	Grove City	GK	Jr.	Monroeville, Pa./Serra