Elon’s Chris Thomas Named an All-American by the NSCAA Men’s Soccer

ELON, N.C. – Elon men’s soccer senior forward Chris Thomas was named to the 2012 NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Men’s All-America Team as announced by the association on Friday. Thomas garnered second team honors after having the most prolific scoring season in Elon men’s soccer history.

Thomas becomes the sixth Phoenix player of the program to earn All-American accolades, but the first since entering Division I play in 1999. This honor adds to the senior striker’s brilliant 2012 senior campaign as the Snellville, Ga., native was recently a Hermann Trophy semifinalist and won his second career Southern Conference Player of the Year award.

“Congratulations to Chris on being the first Elon player to become an All-American at the Division I level,” said Phoenix head coach Darren Powell. “The coaches, players and alumni are very proud that Chris received this honor and hope that he can continue his success at the next level over the coming years.”

Thomas paced the nation in goals scored with 23 and in total points with 51, breaking the single-season mark in program history. He became Elon’s all-time goal scorer in a 3-2 win over then 18th-ranked West Virginia on Oct. 2 and helped the Phoenix to a 15-5-2 overall record and its first national ranking since 2006.

Thomas would receive national recognition throughout the season and was named the College Soccer News and Disney Soccer/NSCAA National Player of the Week and earned a spot on the CSN National Team of the Week. Earlier today, he was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Season third team.

The Phoenix returned to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season after capturing both the SoCon regular-season and tournament titles in the same year for the first time in school history. Thomas was named to the SoCon All-Tournament team after kicking the game-winner in matches against Davidson and Georgia Southern, pushing his season total to nine game-winners.

“This year’s squad worked extremely hard and to have Chris honored as an All-American caps off a great season for our program,” Powell added.

Top Drawer Soccer announced last month that Thomas is a projected top 10 pick in its first mock draft of the MLS Superdraft in January. Thomas ended his career with the maroon and gold with program records 53 career goals, 116 total points and 18 game-winners.