For the second time in three seasons, junior Jacob Zamarron was tabbed Sooner Athletic Offensive Player of the year, and three other Golden Eagles were selected to the 2021 All-Sooner Athletic Conference teams, the league office announced Tuesday, Nov. 9.
Joining Zamarron on the first team was junior Oscar Carballo, while a pair of freshman landed on the second team as Kendall Acuna and Kyle Hix were honored in their first seasons in the Blue and Gold.
Zamarron earned his third-consecutive first-team nod after leading the Sooner Athletic in scoring with 10 goals (20 points) and game-winning tallies in conference play. The junior from Rogers, Ark. posted a hat trick at Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) and added a brace versus Central Christian (Kan.). Down the stretch, Zamarron scored at least one goal in seven of nine SAC matches and finished the conference season with three-game winners (Central Christian, Oklahoma City and Southwestern Christian).
Carballo also returns to the first team for the third time in as many seasons, returning from injury to lead the Golden Eagle midfield. Over nine conference matches, the native Costa Rican averaged 87 minutes on the pitch per night, adding a trio of braces and two assists (14 points) in league play.
Acuna, also from Costa Rica, anchored a John Brown back line that conceded the fifth-least goals in the conference at 1.37 and earned a trio of shutouts, topping the Sooner Athletic. The freshman averaged 93 minutes per game, starting all nine SAC contests, and posted a pair of goals, one each versus Southwestern Assemblies of God and Oklahoma Panhandle State.
Hix's tremendous freshman year began in baptism by fire after senior Rodrigo Selingardi's season ended due to injury in just the third match of the season. Hix improved with each contest, and by the start of the conference season, the Highlands Ranch, Colo. native finished 5-4-0 in league play and boasted a .711 save percentage, stopping 32 of 45 shots on goal. His 32 saves finished fourth-best in the SAC and his 1.37 goals-against average landed fifth in the conference. The freshman averaged 3.56 saves per game and led the Sooner Athletic with three clean sheets.