Conference USA announced its 2003 all-league teams and postseason award winners prior to the start of the ninth annual C-USA Men’s Soccer Tournament in Memphis. Four different schools produced the winners of the four major individual awards and five different schools are represented on the All-Conference first team.

Cincinnati head coach HYLTON DAYES was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year. He is the second Bearcat mentor to win the award with Jeff Cook accepting the honor in 1997. Dayes guided UC to its first share of the league title with a 10-3-5 overall mark. Cincinnati’s six league wins are the most by a Bearcat squad since beginning C-USA play in 1995.

Louisville forward SIMON BIRD is the Conference USA Player of the Year, becoming the first Cardinal player to garner this accolade. He is the league’s second-leading goal scorer with 12 this season and he ranks third all-time at U of L with 29 career goals. A preseason all-conference selection, Bird led Louisville to an 11-6-3 overall record and a 5-2-2 C-USA mark.

Defenders ADRIAN CANN of Louisville and TONY McMANUS of UAB were named the Conference USA Co-Defensive Players of the Year. This is the second consecutive year that Cann has shared the top defensive honor. The Preseason Player of the Year, Cann helped the U of L defense produce eight shutouts. A two-time defensive Player of the Week award winner, McManus was an integral part of helping the Blazer defense register eight shutouts. Both defenders were selected to the All-Conference first team.

Saint Louis forward VEDAD IBISEVIC is the Conference USA Freshman of the Year, becoming the third Billiken player to earn this honor. Ibisevic ranks among league leaders in goals (9) and points (21) and leads SLU in those categories as well. He also earned a spot on the All-Conference first and freshman teams.

The four individual award winners are joined on the First Team All-Conference USA by forward CHRIS LEE of Marquette, midfielders TIM BROWN and JOSH GARDNER of Cincinnati, and midfielders LEANDRO de OLIVEIRA and MARIN PUSEK of UAB, defender NICK GANNON of Saint Louis and goalkeeper BRAD SOKOLOWSKI of Louisville.

Louisville and UAB led the way with three first team selections, followed by 2003 regular season co-champions, Cincinnati and Saint Louis, with two each and Marquette with a single selection.

Thursday’s quarterfinal matches feature fourth-seeded Charlotte (5-9-3, 4-3-2) against fifth-seeded USF (7-7-3, 4-3-2) at 6 p.m. ET and third-seeded Louisville (11-6-3, 5-2-2) against No. 6 seed UAB (9-4-5, 4-3-2) at 8:30 p.m. The winner of the USF-Charlotte match meets top-seeded Cincinnati (10-3-5, 6-2-1) at 6 p.m. on Friday, while second-seeded Saint Louis (12-3-2, 6-2-1) meets the winner of the Louisville-UAB match Friday at 8:30 p.m. Sunday’s championship match will be played at 2 p.m. ET and will be televised by affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network. DON RUSSELL will handle the play-by-play duties and BILL McDERMOTT will provide color commentary.

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2003 CONFERENCE USA MEN’S SOCCER AWARDS

First-Team All-Conference USA
F: Simon Bird, Louisville
F: Chris Lee, Marquette
F: Vedad Ibisevic, Saint Louis
MF: Tim Brown, Cincinnati
MF: Josh Gardner, Cincinnati
MF: Leandro de Oliveira, UAB
MF: Marin Pusek, UAB
D: Adrian Cann, Louisville
D: Nick Gannon, Saint Louis
D: Tony McManus, UAB
GK: Brad Sokolowski, Louisville

Second-Team All-Conference USA
F: Will John, Saint Louis
F: Andy Metcalf, Memphis
F: Mira Mupier, Charlotte
MF: John DiRaimondo, Saint Louis
MF: Brian Grazier, Saint Louis
MF: Floyd Franks, Charlotte
MF: Dayton O’Brien, Memphis
D: Brandon Dobbs, Cincinnati
D: Anders Cedergren, Cincinnati
D: Andy Pusateri, Saint Louis
GK: Martin Hutton, Saint Louis

Third-Team All-Conference USA
F: Jerson Monteiro, UAB
F: Hunter West, USF
F: Derek Guiterrez, Marquette
MF: Clyde Simms, East Carolina
MF: Keeron Benito, USF
MF: Cooper McKee, Saint Louis
MF: Nnamdi Ngwe, UAB
D: Graham Gibbs, Memphis
D: Joe Lampert, Charlotte
D: Matt Neely, Louisville
GK: John Adams, Cincinnati

All-Freshman (No position restriction)
Vedad Ibisevic, Saint Louis
John DiRaimondo, Saint Louis
Will John, Saint Louis
Brian Grazier, Saint Louis
Marco Terminesi, Louisville
Sam Miller, Cincinnati
Chris Arnold, Charlotte
Jerson Monteiro, UAB
Keeron Benito, USF
Nathan Sabich, Marquette
Kareem Smith, USF

Freshman of the Year
Vedad Ibisevic, Saint Louis

Co-Defensive Player of the Year
Adrian Cann, Louisville
Tony McManus, UAB

Player of the Year
Simon Bird, Louisville

Coach of the Year
Hylton Dayes, Cincinnati