Slack, Cooper Earn All-America Honors
7/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
December 8, 2006
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate men's soccer players Liam Slack and Ryan Cooper have been named All-Americans by the National Soccer Coaches' Association of America (NSCAA).
Slack and Cooper were both third-team selections and were two of four Peach Belt Conference players selected as All-Americans. Lander's Nick Cooke (first team) and Adam Arthur (third-team) joined Slack and Cooper on the All-America Team.
Slack, a native of Doncaster, England, earned his third All-America selection. He was a third team selection in 2004 and a second-team pick a year ago. He finished a stellar four-year career with the Spartans in 2006, ending his career as the school's third-leading scorer with 143 points on 57 goals and 29 assists. His 57 goals is the third-beast mark in school history. He is also the fourth-leading scorer in the history of the Peach Belt Conference. He has led Upstate in scoring in each of the last two seasons. He is the only player in the storied history of the program to earn NSCAA All-America honors three times. He is a four-time NSCAA All-Region selection, has earned All-Conference honors three times, and was selected to the inaugural Daktronics All-Region Team this year.
Cooper, from Miami, Fla., earned his first All-America honor after recording a record-breaking year in 2006. An NSCAA and Daktronics All-Region selection and an All-Conference pick, Cooper led the Peach Belt Conference and ranked fourth nationally with a 0.49 goals against average. He led the nation with a .887 save percentage and was second in the conference with eight shutouts. He finished his two-year career at Upstate with 16.5 shutouts and a 0.53 goals against average, the best in school history. His accomplishments this season were even more remarkable due to the fact that he broke his wrist towards the end of the 2005 season, had surgery to correct the injury, and was not cleared to practice until after preseason practice began in August.
