Members of Tusculum’s men’s and women’s soccer teams have been recognized for their academic achievements.
Jonathan Spicher, a member of the men’s soccer team, was honored with the inaugural South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Men’s Soccer Elite 18 Award. Spicher has been recognized the SAC Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year accolade. He also earned Academic All-America honors for the second straight year.
Also recognized were Spicher’s teammate Guillermo Lazcano and Carlie Thornber, a member of the women’s soccer team, who also earned Academic All-America honors.
Spicher Honors
Jonathan Spicher
In early November, it was announced that Spicher was named the 2016 SAC Men’s Soccer Elite 18 honoree. This is a new award for the conference and honors the student-athlete with the top cumulative grade-point average based on a minimum of 48 credit hours who competed at the final site of each of the Conference’s 18 team championship sports
Spicher, a senior from Cologne, Germany, carries a 4.0 GPA with a double-major in management accounting and business administration.
In December, Spicher earned two more accolades for his academic performance. The conference named him Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year, an honor he shared with Corey Brown of Queens University. The SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year Award is presented annually to a student-athlete in each of the conference’s 18 championship sports and is selected by the leagues faculty athletic representatives. He is only the third Pioneer in program history to earn this honor.
He also earned his second Academic All American honor in December. With the honor, Spicher becomes the first two-time Academic All-American® in program history.
“Jonathan is an outstanding young man and has been the model student-athlete since his arrival at Tusculum,” said Tusculum head men’s soccer coach Allen Vital. “He has been an outstanding team player and has been a tremendous part of our program’s success, not only this year, but during his Pioneer career. He emulates all of the qualities that exemplify a scholar athlete and is a true ambassador for the sport, Tusculum College and the South Atlantic Conference.”
On the soccer pitcher, Spicher played in 13 matches and scored one goal, but it was an important one as he netted the tying goal with 59 seconds left in regulation as the Pioneers upset sixth-ranked and defending NCAA II national champion Pfeiffer 3-2 in overtime. In 62 career matches (40 starts), Spicher posted 15 goals and four assists for 34 points, with five of his goals being match-winners.
Spicher has been a mainstay in the community and on campus as he has been a part of a number of philanthropic organizations. He is a member of the Tusculum College President’s Society where he serves as an ambassador for the College in giving campus tours and assisting with alumni events. He is currently serving with Knoxville Pays It Forward as an accounting assistant with small businesses in the Knoxville area. A two-year member of the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, he helped the group lead the league with over $3,500 dollars raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Academic All-American Honorees
Guillermo Lazcano
Guillermo Lazcano and Carlie Thornber also earned Academic All America recognition in December.
Lazcano, a senior defender from Aviles,Spain, garnered his first Academic All-America® recognition. He has a 3.60 GPA as a sport management major. A captain, he played in 14 matches with 13 starts for the Pioneers and registered four goals, two of which came on penalty kicks against Pfeiffer and Mars Hill. In three seasons, Lazcano has seven goals and three assists for 15 points in 47 career matches (46 starts).
Thornber, a junior defender from Oshawa, Ontario, returns to the Academic All-America® squad after earning third team honors last season. She also becomes only the second two-time Academic All-American® in school history
Carlie Thornber
She has a perfect 4.00 grade-point average as a pre-medicine major. She is a member of the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Athletic Director’s Honor, Dean’s List, President’s List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. She was the 2014 recipient of the Tusculum Freshman of the Year Academic Award and was a 2015 Tusculum Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award honoree.
The 2016 All-South Atlantic Conference first team selection started in 15 matches this season for the Pioneers, scoring three goals, all match-winners. Her biggest goal of the season came against King when she notched the tiebreaking tally with 3.9 seconds left in a 2-1 Tusculum victory. She also scored the first goals in a 2-0 win at Lincoln Memorial and a 2-0 victory over Catawba that clinched a share of the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Championship. Thornber is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and is a three-year starter for the Pioneers while tallying eight goals in 53 matches.