AUGUSTA, Ga. – With a resurgent season continuing into the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals, Clayton State men's soccer has been recognized with impressive honors at the league's annual awards ceremony on Thursday, November 2, including three All-PBC selections, a Co-Freshman of the Year honor and a league best award.
 
Landing on the All-PBC First-Team were junior defender Kwaku Dwamena (Richmond, Va.) and sophomore forward Dean Foster (Johannesburg, South Africa) while sophomore defender Jordan Knight (Javea, Spain) was named to the Second-Team.
 
In specialty awards, midfielder Mitro Turunen (Vantaa, Finland) was named Co-Freshman of the Year and Dwamena picked up the Select Sport Gold Ball Award as the league's leading scorer. The awards are the first for each of these four individuals.
 
Dwamena, listed throughout the year as a defender, held down that role and transitioned to a more offensive role at midfield as needed, leading to his First-Team selection at the latter position. In his first season as a Laker he took the league by storm, leading the PBC with 11 goals and 26 points.
 
He scored in eight games, with a career-high three goals vs. Southern Wesleyan (9/13), and produced a point in 10 games, including a pair of scores and an assist in a 3-2 double overtime win over Erskine (10/4).
 
Dwamena becomes just the fourth individual in program history to lead the league in goals, joining Avery Shepard (11 goals in 2015), Jamal Geathers (18 goals in 2007) and Leighton Fredericks (13 goals in 2008), all under head coach Pete Petersen.
 
Right there with him all season was fellow First-Team selection Dean Foster. In 17 games and starts he put together a 10 goal, four assist, 24 point season, also his first for Clayton State, that saw him finish tied for second in the league in both goals and points.
 
After delivering the game-winning goal in a 1-0 exhibition victory at Division I Georgia State, Foster quickly showed he could do it for real with a goal in four straight games from September 3-13. Among those he included an assist at Carson-Newman (9/9) for good measure. He would add a pair of two goal games vs. Auburn-Montgomery (9/27) and No. 7 Young Harris (10/18), with the latter seeing him score both the tying and winning goals.
 
While Dwamena and Foster held down the offensive end, Jordan Knight anchored the Lakers defense. In 17 games and starts he never missed a minute, logging a team-high 1,588, and reset his individual game career-high three different times.
 
Included among those were 105 minutes in the victory over Erskine, 108 in the very next game in a near upset of defending NCAA Division II National Champion Wingate (10/7) and 110 in a 1-1 tie at USC Aiken (10/21). He led a defense that posted a pair of shutouts, a 1.93 goals against average and a victory over No. 7 Young Harris.
 
Mitro Turunen becomes the fifth Clayton State player to earn at least a share of PBC Freshman of the Year honors and the first since Arturo Cruz in 2010. He also joins Andre Rall (2003), Jamal Geathers (2007) and Leighton Fredericks (2008) as the other Lakers to be so honored.
 
Playing at midfield, the Finland native started all 17 games for Clayton State as a true freshman and always found a way to be around the ball. On the year he has logged 1,393 minutes and also been a key factor in the team's defensive accomplishments. Not solely a defensive presence, Turunen also found his way to the offensive end, firing off 19 shots. He shares the award with Lander's Thibault Chretien.
 
With their three honorees, the Lakers all-time All-PBC selection total grows to an impressive 55 honorees. Those selections also extend a stretch of 18 straight years, dating back to 2000, that Clayton State has had at least one player selected to the All-Peach Belt Conference Team.
 
Not only is it the 16^th time they have had multiple selections in a year, it is the third time in the last four years that the Lakers have had three selections with at least two of them being named to the First-Team. That has happened three other times (2009, 2010, 2011) since the league went to a multi-team format in 2008.
 
Clayton State returns to action tomorrow, Friday, November 3, when they take on 2017 PBC Regular Season Champion Lander in the league's semifinals at 5 p.m.
 
2017 Peach Belt Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams
FIRST-TEAM
Forwards
Dean  Foster, Clayton State
Levin Sandmann, Francis Marion
 
Midfielders
Kwaku  Dwamena, Clayton State
Marco Micaletto, Young Harris
Andre Simmond, USC Aiken
 
Defenders
Daniel Bennett, North Georgia
Macauley King, Young Harris
Sam Jones, Young Harris
Jordan Skelton, Lander
 
Goalkeeper
Matt Sharman, North Georgia
 
At-Large
Ivan Acimovic, North Georgia
Driss Baraket, USC Aiken
 
SECOND-TEAM
Forwards
Carlos Gomez, Young Harris
Sam Lofts, Lander
 
Midfielders
Oliver Brock, Lander
Thibault Chretien, Lander
Juan Membreno, Flagler
 
Defenders
Richard Bryan, Lander
Jordan  Knight, Clayton State
 
Goalkeeper
Dean Cowdroy, Lander
 
At-Large
Gabriel Garcia, North Georgia
Silvio Polly, Georgia Southwestern
 
Select Sport Gold Ball Award (Most Goals Scored)
Kwaku  Dwamena, Clayton State
 
Co-Freshmen of the Year
Thibault Chretien, Lander
Mitro  Turunen, Clayton State
 
Player of the Year
Macauley King, Young Harris
 
Coach of the Year
Lee Squires, Lander
 
 
Clayton State Men's Soccer All-Peach Belt Conference History (55 Overall)
2017 (3)
Kwaku Dwamena (First-Team)
Dean Foster (First-Team)
Jordan Knight (Second-Team)

2016 (2)
Ryan King (Second-Team)
Iain Smith (Second-Team)
 
2015 (3)
Avery Shepard (First-Team)
Aleksi Tuominen (First-Team)
Jonny Evans (Second-Team)
 
2014 (3)
Jonny Evans (First-Team)
Avery Shepard (First-Team)
Nick Hague (Second-Team)
 
2013 (1)
Alhagi Toure (First-Team)
 
2012 (1)
Ado Junuzovic (First-Team)
 
2011 (3)
Matty Phillips (First-Team)
Janny Rivera (First -Team)
Chris Klute (First -Team)
 
2010 (3)
*Ryan Pugh (First-Team)
Matty Phillips (First-Team)
Igor Lukic (First-Team)
 
2009 (4)
*Kyle Timm (First-Team)
Liam Brown (First-Team)
David Cristofoli (First-Team)
Leighton Fredericks (Second-Team)
 
2008 (5)
Johnny Lara (First-Team)
Leighton Fredericks (Second-Team)
Matty Phillips (Second-Team)
Patrick Ahern (Second-Team)
Kyle Timm (Second-Team)
 
2007 (4)
Marijan Babic
Jamal Geathers
Hailab Habtom
*Tonny Madegwa
 
2006 (4)
Kevin Crooks
Hailab Habtom
Johnny Lara
Andre Rall
 
2005 (5)
Kevin Crooks
Alex Dowling
Johnny Lara
Heath Padgett
Juan Trujillo
 
2004 (3)
Alex Dowling
Heath Padgett
Juan Trujillo
 
2003 (2)
David Dowling
Andre Rall
 
2002 (3)
Warren van der Westhuizen
Zuca Palladino
David Dowling
 
2001 (3)
*Marco Capazario
Barry Casebeer
Warren van der Westhuizen
 
2000 (3)
Josh Grenier
Barry Casebeer
Warren van der Westhuizen
*PBC Player of the Year