By Dylan Dunaway

PRCC Sports Information

POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River men’s soccer team has added more hardware to its collection after the announcement of the All-Region 23 team.

John Bowman (Bay St. Louis; Bay), Mohamed Diallo (Gulfport), Andre Nicholson (Kingston, Jamaica; Clarendon College) and Ryley Smith (Manchester, England; Castlebrook) were each selected to the All-Region 23 team.

The All-Region list comes one day after Dustin Cuevas (Picayune; Hancock), Nicholson and Smith were named to the All-MACCC South Division squad.

Bowman finished his sophomore campaign as one of the top keepers in the country. His seven clean sheets were the most in the NJCAA. Among keepers with at least 10 games played, Bowman’s 0.88 goals against average was fifth in the country. He captured the MACCC Goalkeeper of the Week award twice.

“John is going to be missed,” coach Drew Gallant said. “I can’t say enough about him and what he has done for us over the last two seasons. He had another great season filled with big time saves. We never had to worry about conceding when John was in goal.”

Diallo was a well-rounded attacker for Pearl River, scoring and assisting with ease. His six goals and four assists were each second on the team.

“Mo brings a great balance of goal scoring and assisting, and he showed that this season,” Gallant said. “As his confidence grew during the season, he caused more problems for opposing defenders. He will build on this season, and we really look forward to what he’s going to bring to the team next season.”

Nicholson was one of the top offensive threats in the MACCC, finishing second in goals with nine. He also chipped in two assists.

The award is Nicholson’s second of the postseason after recently capturing a First-Team All-MACCC South Division selection.

“Andre had a great first season and finished as our leading scorer,” Gallant said. “He is a walking highlight reel and some of the goals that he scored were absolutely amazing. This was a good freshman season, but we know he can have a much bigger year next year.”

Smith always delivered the crucial pass that led to goals, ending the season with 10 assists which was second nationally. He also found ways to get the ball past the keeper, bagging four goals. Smith captures his second piece of hardware after recently being named First-Team All-MACCC South Division.

“Ryley was exactly what we expected,” Gallant said. “He was a difference maker in the midfield. He created more opportunities than any midfielder on the team.”