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Nikolai Earns Second Freshman All-American Accolade
12/21/2023 1:02:00 PM | Men's Soccer
HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison defender Luca Nikolai picked up his second Freshman All-American accolade on Thursday afternoon, as College Soccer News announced him as a first team selection.
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He also was named a First Team Freshman All-American by TopDrawerSoccer earlier in the week on Monday. Nikolai is the first Duke to ever earn Freshman All-American laurels in a season and the first to earn an All-American status of any kind since 2020.
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The Kaarst, Germany native started all 20 matches this season for the Dukes along the backline. He was named a First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, the lone freshman selected to the first team. In addition, TopDrawerSoccer ranked him as the sixth best freshman in its postseason Freshman Top 100.
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Defensively, he helped JMU to five shutouts including a clean sheet against the fourth seed in the NCAA Championship in Georgetown. It was the first time since 2018 the Hoyas were shutout at Shaw Field, snapping a 16-match home unbeaten streak in the process. Offensively, he attributed a goal and four assists. He had the assist on the game-winner in the regular season against UCLA, ranked 26th in the final College Soccer News poll, as well as at Pitt in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
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He also was named a First Team Freshman All-American by TopDrawerSoccer earlier in the week on Monday. Nikolai is the first Duke to ever earn Freshman All-American laurels in a season and the first to earn an All-American status of any kind since 2020.
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The Kaarst, Germany native started all 20 matches this season for the Dukes along the backline. He was named a First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, the lone freshman selected to the first team. In addition, TopDrawerSoccer ranked him as the sixth best freshman in its postseason Freshman Top 100.
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Defensively, he helped JMU to five shutouts including a clean sheet against the fourth seed in the NCAA Championship in Georgetown. It was the first time since 2018 the Hoyas were shutout at Shaw Field, snapping a 16-match home unbeaten streak in the process. Offensively, he attributed a goal and four assists. He had the assist on the game-winner in the regular season against UCLA, ranked 26th in the final College Soccer News poll, as well as at Pitt in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
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Players Mentioned
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Thursday, December 07
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