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Hampden-Sydney College freshman midfielder Declan Shaw of Durham, North Carolina has been selected as the 2020-21 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Men’s Soccer Rookie of the Year.

Shaw, a First Team All-ODAC selection as well, is the program’s first Rookie of the Year recipient since Ryan Turner in 2014.

“Declan had an exceptional fall and showed up to H-SC fully fit with plenty of confidence,” Head Coach Tommy DiNuzzo said. “From there he continued to push himself and had a major impact for our program during the season. We’re proud of the example that Dec set, but see him as only scratching the surface of his true potential at this point in time.”

Shaw, who started nine of the 10 H-SC games this spring, led the team in goals this season with four, including game-winners against Lynchburg and Ferrum. He added four assists to also lead the team in points with 12.

Four other Tigers were selected to the All-ODAC Teams. Senior Gray Sutter of Clinton, North Carolina and freshman Stefan Ngoh of Goldvein both earned Second Team All-ODAC honors while sophomore Connor Brooks of Springfield and freshman Emory Davis of Palmyra were Third Team All-ODAC selections.

“It’s always great for our players to get recognized by the conference and each of our guys that made it was fully deserving,” added DiNuzzo.

Sutter, a 2020-21 ODAC All-Tournament Team selection, played and started every game for the Tigers this spring. In total, he was in goal for all 928:51 that H-SC was on the pitch. He finished the spring with an 8-1-1 record while going 8-0 in the ODAC. In conference games, he made 29 saves with a 0.75 goals against average while facing 64 shots. He also had three shutouts. Overall he made 40 saves with a 0.78 goals against average while facing 90 shots.

Ngoh finished this season playing every minute, in all 10 games, as a defender for the Tigers. He found the back of the net against Virginia Wesleyan for his lone goal this spring.

A Third Team All-ODAC selection, Brooks also played and started in all 10 games. Like Sutter and Ngoh, he played all 928:51 minutes on the field, as a defender. In the season-opener against Emory & Henry, he scored two goals, including the game-winner in the 48th minute. He also scored the game winner against Virginia Wesleyan in the 81st minute for his three goals on the season.

Davis made nine starts in the Tigers’ 10 games this season. The forward scored a pair of goals; against Randolph-Macon on March 4 and against Lynchburg in the ODAC Tournament semifinals on April 9. He also added assists on goals against Randolph and Eastern Mennonite for six points.

As a team, the Tigers broke multiple records this spring. The Tigers’ 24 game unbeaten streak dating back to September 14, 2019 broke the previous ODAC record of 21 set by Virginia Wesleyan back during the 1994-95 season. This also marked the first year that the Tigers went undefeated in the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record.

For the second year in a row, H-SC earned the No. 1 seed in the ODAC Tournament, the only two times in team history.