Three Men's Soccer Student-Athletes Named CSC Academic All-District
AUSTIN, Texas – Three South Carolina men’s soccer players were named to the 2024 Academic All-District® Men’s Soccer Team as selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC). The award recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
William Nilsson earned his second Academic All-District® honor, while Ethan Ballek and Ted Cargill both earned the honor for the first time. Carolina has now had a player earn All-District honors in 16 of the last 18 seasons. Ballek and Nilsson were selected as finalists and will advance to the national ballot where first-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced December 10.
To be nominated for the award, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average and must compete in 90 percent of the institution’s matches played or start in at least 66 percent of the institution’s matches.
Ballek, a forward, was named to the Sun Belt All-Conference Second Team after a breakout season for the Gamecocks. The junior has a perfect 4.0 GPA while majoring in sport & entertainment management. In his first season with Carolina, Ballek started and played in all 17 matches. He finished the regular season with nine goals and five assists for 23 points. Nationally, he ranked 31st in total points, 34th in total goals, 35th in points per game, and 40th in goals per game. His 9 goals and 23 points are the most by a player since 2016, while his five assists are the most since 2018. He ranked third in the conference in points, fifth in goals and sixth in assists. Against Winthrop, he has a career match, tallying five points, two goals and one assist.
Cargill, a junior sports media major, holds a 3.61 GPA. The midfielder played in all 17 matches, earning nine starts for the Gamecocks, and playing a total of 917 minutes on the pitch. In his first season with South Carolina, Cargill tallied his first career multi-point match when he earned a pair of assists in a 4-0 win over USC Upstate. He played all 90 minutes in four matches, three of which came during conference play.
A junior defender, Nilsson has a 3.77 GPA while majoring in civil engineering. He played in all 17 matches on Carolina’s backline, starting 14 games. His 1,338 minutes played were third on the team. Nilsson helped the Gamecocks earn five shutouts on the season and rank them 14th for goal differential during the regular season. He earned his first career points this season, scoring two goals and adding an assist. He notched his first career goal in a win at Georgia State. Against James Madison, he scored the game-winning goal in the 50th minute and added an assist on a goal in the 89th minute to cement the victory.
For more information about CSC Academic All-District® and Academic All-America® Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com.
For the latest on men’s soccer, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockMSoccer, Facebook /GamecockMSoccer, and Instagram @GamecockMSoccer.
