'22 Season In Review - Men's Soccer - University of North Florida Athletics

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's soccer picked up many accolades, achievements and honors highlighted by ASUN weekly honors, shutout wins, and incredible career marks that were reached during the 2022 campaign.

Under the leadership of head coach Derek Marinatos, the Ospreys picked it up in the second half of the year sporting a 4-1-4 record to close out the regular season and clinch their first ASUN Championship tournament berth since spring 2021. From a memorable senior night to another River City Rumble victory, UNF put together a season that it can build off of for years to come.

DATES OF NOTE

Aug. 10 - LJ Estes was tabbed to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team for a third consecutive season.
Aug. 26 - Opened season against Georgia State playing first game at turf field on UNF campus.
Aug. 29 - Angus Taylor scored the first goal of the season on the road against UCF.
Sept. 20 - Joaquin Acuna scored a late goal to pick up first win of the season, as well as first road win in program history, against FAU.
Sept. 24 - Ospreys recorded their first multi-score match in draw against Mercer, which included a goal from Bendeguz Burka within the first minute of play.
Oct. 3 - Won first ASUN game of the season against newcomer Queens after Zach Board scored GW-goal in the second half.
Oct. 4 - Micah Gun picks up his first career ASUN Goalkeeper of the Week honor with four saves at Queens.
Oct. 11 - Gun received back-to-back weekly honors from the conference after notching a career-high seven saves in scoreless draw against FGCU.
Oct. 15 - Rio Onwumere scored the first goal of his career as a freshman in 1-1 draw against Bellarmine.
Oct. 28 - Took home shutout victory in do-or-die match against Liberty to clinch berth in the ASUN Championship tournament.
Nov. 1 - UNF won their eighth River City Rumble in nine seasons with 1-0 victory in third consecutive shutout performance to close out the regular season.
Nov. 2 - Gun earned his third ASUN Goalkeeper of the Week award of the season, while Estes earned ASUN Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career.
Nov. 4 - Estes becomes the Ospreys' first ASUN First Team All-Conference selection since 2017, while also being recognized to the ASUN All-Academic team.
Nov. 5 - North Florida made an appearance in the ASUN Championship tournament for the first time since spring 2021.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by North Florida Men's Soccer (@ospreysmsoc)

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

UNF defeated FAU for the first time at Boca Raton in program history with a late goal from Joaquin Acuna.
Michael Carrero recorded his first career assist in his first collegiate appearance with only 13 minutes of playing time against the Owls.
Burka scored the fastest goal of the season at the 33 second mark against Mercer.
Only multi-score game of the season for the Ospreys was against the Bears with Burka and Acuna executing with only three total shots on goal from the team.
Board scored his first career goal in his third season with UNF, which ended up being the game-winner against Queens.
Herbie Steigleman also notched his second career assist in the game to set up Board for the score.
Gun totaled a career-high seven saves in matchup against FGCU for a scoreless draw.
Estes scored his first goal since the 2018 season on senior night against Liberty in what ended up being a 1-0 victory.
Also set career-high marks with four shots and three shots on goal against the Flames.
Bryson Smith scored the sixth goal of his career in his last game at Hodges Stadium to lift Ospreys over Jacksonville.
Made ASUN Championship tournament for the first time since the spring 2021 season.
Acuna notched back-to-back seasons as the leading goal scorer for the Ospreys with seven combined scores over the past two seasons.
Steigelman ended the year with the most starts with 15 total, as well as the most minutes played at 1,317 total.
There were 28 different players that saw playing time this season with 24 of them making at least one start.
Seven different players scored goals for UNF with only Acuna scoring multiple, while nine different players recorded assists with only Braden Masker, Nino Smith and Steigelman notching multiple.
Ended the regular season with seven of their last eight games either being a win or draw.
Also closed out their last three matches with shutouts on the defensive side.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by North Florida Men's Soccer (@ospreysmsoc)

STATISTICAL RECORDS & MILESTONES

Estes and Padraic Gilley entered the 2022 season as the longest tenured on the team as sixth-year players.
Opened the season at home for the first time since 2019 with their first-ever official match played on the adjacent turf field from Hodges Stadium.
Combined for 37 total shots against College of Charleston and Liberty, which is the most since 2016.
Closed the regular season with back-to-back wins for the first time since the 2017 season.
Recorded an attendance of 1,516 against Jacksonville to set the highest mark at Hodges Stadium since 2019.
Eighth regular-season victory over JU in past nine seasons, including fifth straight win against the Dolphins at Hodges.
Only allowed one shot on goal combined in last three matches of regular season, which includes back-to-back games of no shots on goal allowed to Liberty and JU.
UNF had multiple ASUN weekly honorees in the same week for the first time since spring 2021.
Gun recorded third weekly honor of the season, along with Estes' earning the fourth weekly award of his career.
Estes was first Osprey to win First Team All-Conference and All-Academic in the same season since 2015.
Also was first selection for UNF to All-ASUN First Team since 2017 after Estes made an All-ASUN team three different times.
In its inaugural season as a weekly honor, Gun recorded the most ASUN Goalkeeper of the Week awards this season with three total.
Smith become the first player ever for UNF to score at least one goal in five consecutive seasons.
Gilley recorded his 100th-career save in the closing minutes of the ASUN quarterfinal against FGCU.
Also played 41 games as the UNF goalkeeper, which is the most goalie appearances in UNF D-I history.
Estes ended his Osprey tenure with 71 total games played, which is the most career appearances in program history.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by North Florida Men's Soccer (@ospreysmsoc)