Lincoln Memorial’s Pereira Heads Daktronics All-America Men’s Soccer Team

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) University led the way with three players, headlined by National Player of the Year Leandro Pereira, on the Daktronics NCAA Division II Men's Soccer All-America First Team.

Pereira ranks fifth in points per game and eighth in goals per game in Division II, guiding Lincoln Memorial to a 19-3-1 record and a berth in the national semifinals Friday in Orange Beach, Ala. The sophomore forward leads the Railsplitters with 23 goals and 55 points. A repeat first team selection, Pereira was also named South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and Daktronics Appalachian Region Player of the Year.

Leandro Pereira	Nelson Pizarro
Felipe Nogueira	Ryan Villiard
Gary Higgins

Senior midfielder Nelson Pizarro and sophomore defender Felipe Nogueira join Pereira on the first team from Lincoln Memorial. Pizarro has 15 goals and 37 points, while Nogueira has 11 goals and 23 points.

Catawba College midfielder Ryan Villiard was named to the All-America Third Team. Lenoir-Rhyne College defender Gary Higgins was named All-America Honorable Mention

Villiard (Holiday, FL/Mitchell HS) started all 19 matches for the Indians and led Catawba this season with 16 goals. Three of the goals were game-winners. He added four assists. Over his career, Villiard scored 23 goals with 23 assists.

Catawba College's Ryan Villiard (Holiday, FL/Mitchell HS) has been named to the 2007 Daktronics All-America Men's Soccer team. The senior midfielder was a third team selection after earning first team All-Appalachian Region honors. The team is voted on by the nation's Sports Information Directors.

Villiard started all 19 matches for the Indians and led Catawba this season with 16 goals. Three of the goals were game-winners. He added four assists. Over his career, Villiard scored 23 goals with 23 assists. He was twice named all-region and All-South Atlantic Conference.

During his career, Catawba posted a 47-33-2 record and earned three berths in NCAA II Regional play. In 2005, Catawba advanced to the regional final match where it lost in a penalty kick shootout.

Higgins (Paisley, SCOTLAND/St. Andrews Academy) led the Bears with five goals.

Franklin Pierce (N.H.) University placed five players on the first, second and third teams, paced by first team forward David Clifton. Clifton, the New England Region Player of the Year, is second in Division II in both points per game and goals per game in leading the Ravens into Friday's national semifinals.

Senior Daniel Brown of national semifinalist Midwestern State (Texas) University is the remaining forward on the first team. Brown, fourth in points per game and sixth in goals per game in Division II, was the Daktronics Midwest Region Player of the Year and runner-up for Daktronics National Player of the Year.

The other first team midfielders are Daktronics Northeast Region Player of the Year Geoff Bloes of Shippensburg (Pa.) University and Jhonny Arteaga of Dominican (N.Y.). University. Rounding out the first team defenders are Andy Bacon of Northern Kentucky University, Tom Brailsford of Lees-McRae (N.C.) University and Ancil Farrier of Southern Connecticut University. Derby Carrillo of Cal State University Dominguez Hills, second in Division II in goals against average, is the first team goalkeeper.

Sports information directors from NCAA Division II schools and conferences sponsoring men's soccer selected the Daktronics All-America teams. The process begins at the regional level with all first team All-Region picks advancing to the national ballot. This is the second year Daktronics has sponsored the NCAA Division II men's soccer All-America and All-Region teams. A total of 33 student-athletes representing 20 different institutions filled out the three teams.

Daktronics, with headquarters in Brookings, S.D., is an acknowledged world leader in timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition.

2007 Daktronics NCAA Division II Men's Soccer All-America First Team
Pos. Name School Class Hometown
GK Derby Carrillo Cal State Dominguez Hills So. La Mirada, Calif.
F Daniel Brown Midwestern State (Texas) Sr. Arlington, Texas
F David Clifton Franklin Pierce (N.H.) Gr. London, England
F Leandro Pereira