Agyen named Jayhawk West Co-Player of the Year
By Mike Pilosof
Photo by Adam Shrimplin
Garden City, KS-Talk about persevering.
After just one year at Garden City, Abdoulaye Agyen was set to pack his bags and head back to France just weeks before the start of the 2019 season. But then Head Coach Scott Westbrook was let go, and Corey Bryant took his place. His first order of business: keep his star player in Garden City.
The results speak for themselves.
On Wednesday, Agyen rewarded his new coach's faith in him by earning Jayhawk West Co-Player of the Year honors.
The sophomore finished the 2019 campaign 14th in the conference in goals scored with six. He netted two in the Broncbusters 5-1 victory over Hesston on Oct. 12. He scored in back-to-back matches on Sept. 18 vs. Hesston and Sept. 25 vs. rival Dodge City, and started 13 of 16 games while leading his team to the postseason.
Joining Agyen on the first team was freshman defender Thailian Ercolani, who started 12 of 15 matches. Sophomore midfielder Leon Alves made second team, and goalie Gabriel Melo was named an honorable mention. The sophomore finished second in the conference in saves with 81, eighth in goals-against average (1.79) and eighth in save percentage (.750).