FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Christopher Newport senior Davis Pillow was named the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year to headline a group of seven All-Conference selections for Christopher Newport men's soccer, announced Wednesday morning by the league office. Additionally, head coach Justin Chezem and his assistants were named a repeat selection as Coaching Staff of the Year. 

Pillow joins All-American Derek Cook as the only Captains in program history to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors and joins an elite list of ten CNU players to garner Conference Player of the Year accolades in any capacity. Chezem collects his second Coaching Staff of the Year recognition in as many official seasons on the sidelines. 

Along with the individual award winners, six more Captains collected All-Conference honors in 2021. Pillow was joined on the first team by forward Will Collins and midfielder Cory Hogge, each collecting their second career All-League certificate. On the second team, four Captains were honored for the first time as senior defender Daniel Hulett, junior forward Owen Burnett, junior midfielder Chris Schram, and sophomore goalkeeper Gabe Barros earned selections after a vote of league head coaches. 

One of the most dangerous defensive players in the nation, Pillow has been a consistent presence on the Captains' back line for each of his four seasons with the Captains. The fifth-year standout has started 67 of his 69 career games played and has made an impact on both ends of the field. With 22 career points, Pillow has scored eight goals and six assists as an imposing figure on the offensive end while also locking down opposing offenses to an unprecedented level. Over four seasons as a central figure in the Captains defense, Pillow has helped secure 25 career shutouts while the team posted a 0.879 goals-against average. The defense over the last four years has allowed fewer goals than any other class in program history by a wide margin, with 63 goals allowed on pace to break the previous record of 71. 

This season, Pillow has guided the Captains against the toughest schedule in the nation and continues to impress defensively. CNU has allowed just 16 goals in 14 games for a 1.10 goals-against average and has surrendered multiple goals in a game only five times this season. The senior defender from Smithfield, Va. has been on the field for almost all of it, playing in a team-high 1,203 minutes of a possible 1,303 (92%). CNU earned a shutout against then-5th ranked Johns Hopkins and held top-25 foes Lynchburg and Emory to a single tally. 

While Pillow has anchored the back line, the Captains' offense has run through seniors Cory Hogge and Will Collins all season long. The first team All-Conference selections are among the team leaders in scoring while CNU men's soccer has navigated the difficult schedule. Collins, a 2019 second team All-Region selection, has scored a team-best four goals with three assists for 11 points this season. He is carrying momentum into the postseaosn with goals in four of the last six games played while raising his on-goal percentage to .379 for the season. Hogge continues to mystify outside backs with his ability to get free and create offensive chances for the Captains and this year he is tied for third on the team with eight points on three goals and two assists. He has started all 14 games in his final campaign and leads all midfielders with 833 minutes of action this season. 

Four Captains earned second team All-League recognition including a pair of newcomers to the Captains lineup. Junior transfer Chris Schram burst onto the scene for CNU men's soccer this season and ranks second on the squad with nine points on four goals and an assist. The midfielder has started all 14 games and has two game-winning goals with a pair of wicked free kick bangers against North Park and Salisbury. Also new to this year's lineup is goalkeeper Gabe Barros, who earned second team All-Conference honors after just four starts in net for the Captains. Posting one of the most memorable debuts in program history, Barros shutout No. 5 Johns Hopkins with five saves on October 13 and never relinquished his starting role, going 3-1-0 for the Captains. He has made 12 saves and played all 360 minutes in those contests for CNU to earn the recognition. 

Rounding out the All-Conference selections are veterans Daniel Hulett and Owen Burnett. Hulett, like Pillow, has been an automatic fill-in for the starting lineup throughout the last three seasons. He has 47 starts in 51 career games played and has helped the historically great defense hold opponents to limited chances. This season, the talented crop of opposing attack has been held to just 8.3 shots per game and fewer than four per game on-goal. On the other end of the field, Burnett has enjoyed a breakout season for the Captains offense with three goals and two assists for eight points. The dangerous weapon offensively has one gamewinner and has peppered the net with chances, shooting on frame at a 41.7% clip. 

With all these pieces and more, head coach Justin Chezem has navigated through another successful regular season with an 8-4-2 overall record. The Captains put together the most challenging slate of games in the nation, according to the Massey Ratings, and head into the C2C Tournament as the top seed. In two official seasons, Chezem has posted an overall record of 22-6-7 without a single loss coming at home (13-0-5). The Captains faced four opponents in the top-25 and another two that have been receiving votes in the national rankings. 

Christopher Newport will return to action this Friday, November 5 as they take on either #4 Salisbury or #5 UC Santa Cruz in the Conference Semifinals. The tournament will be hosted by the University of Mary Washington and Friday's semifinal matchup will be played at 11:00 am. 

2021 C2C Men's Soccer All-Conference Awards

2021 C2C Offensive Player of the Year: Josh Kirkland - Mary Washington
2021 C2C Defensive Player of the Year: Davis Pillow - Christopher Newport
2021 C2C Rookie of the Year: Mohamed Koroma - Finlandia
2021 C2C Scholar-Athlete of the Year: John Ford - Salisbury
2021 C2C Coaching Staff of the Year: Christopher Newport - Justin Chezem, Head Coach (2nd time)

2021 All-C2C Men's Soccer First Team

NAME	YR.	POS.	TEAM	HOMETOWN	PREVIOUS ALL-C2C HONORS
Will Collins	Sr.	For	Christopher Newport	Richmond, Va.	2nd in '19
Josh Kirkland	Jr.	For	Mary Washington	Richmond, Va.	Rookie of the Year & 2nd in '19
Cullen Myers	Sr.	For	Salisbury	Scranton, Pa.	2nd in '19
Jacob Mouille	Fr.	For	Wisconsin-Whitewater	Waunakee, Wis.
Mohamed Koroma	Fr.	For	Finlandia	Dumfries, Va.
Cory Hogge	Sr.	Mid	Christopher Newport	Midlothian, Va.	2nd in '19
Brady Young	Fr.	Mid	Salisbury	Boyds, Md.
Abel Luwis	Jr.	Mid	Mary Washington	McLean, Va.
Jacob Kautzman	Sr.	Def	Mary Washington	Springfield, Va.
Davis Pillow	Sr.	Def	Christopher Newport	Smithfield, Va.	1st in '19
Evan Donini	Sr.	Def	Wisconsin-Whitewater	Waukesha, Wis.
Owen Peters	Fr.	Def	Salisbury	Salisbury, Md.
Ken Kurtz	Sr.	GK	Mary Washington	Katonah, N.Y.	1st in '19, 1st in '18

2021 All-C2C Men's Soccer Second Team

NAME	YR.	POS.	TEAM	HOMETOWN	PREVIOUS ALL-C2C HONORS
Luca Bravo	Jr.	For	UC Santa Cruz	Denver, Colo.
Carter Berg	Fr.	For	Mary Washington	Reston, Va.
Owen Burnett	Jr.	For	Christopher Newport	Pennington, N.J.
Steven Wright	Sr.	Mid	Wisconsin-Whitewater	Prior Lake, Minn.
Cole Simes	Jr.	Mid	UC Santa Cruz	Carlsbad, Calif.
Chris Schram	Jr.	Mid	Christopher Newport	McLean, Va.
Gabe Francesconi	Jr.	Mid	Mary Washington	Berlin, N.J.
Conner Appleby	So.	Mid	Salisbury	Bel Air, Md.
Daniel Hulett	Sr.	Def	Christopher Newport	Great Falls, Va.
Will Barba	So.	Def	UC Santa Cruz	San Diego, Calif.
Beau Johnson	Sr.	Def	Salisbury	Washington, D.C.
Jake King	Sr.	GK	Wisconsin-Whitewater	McHenry, Ill.
Gabe Barros	So.	GK	Christopher Newport	Jeffersonton, Va.