Six members of the Francis Marion University men's soccer team have been selected to the 2025 Conference Carolinas All-Conference squad that was announced on Friday (Nov. 7).

Graduate student midfielder Antonio Garda and senior defender David Guevara were both named to the first team, while graduate student forward Matteo Benistant was placed on the second team.  A trio of Patriots, junior forward Elian Aguilar Valencia, graduate student midfielder Mario Buelga, and senior goalkeeper Ian Milla, garnered third-team accolades.

Three of the honorees earn All-Conference honors for the second consecutive year, as Buelga was a first-team selection in 2024, while Garda and Guevara were third-team picks a year ago.

Garda, a native of A Coruna, Spain, was second on the Patriots in scoring with five goals and three assists.  He registered 35 shots and two of his scores were match-winners.  He ranked 11th in the conference in points per match.

Guevara, a native of Guayaquil, Ecuador, started all 16 matches along the backline and led the team in minutes played, subbing out for only 63 minutes all season.  He scored one goal, the match-winner in a road win at Ferrum College, and anchored the Patriot defense that has allowed only 13 goals in 16 matches for an 0.81 goals against average – the 20th-ranked defense in NCAA Division II.  FMU surrendered only 3.4 shots on goal per match and posted six shutouts.

Benistant, a native of Saint Didier Sous Aubenas, France, led FMU in scoring with seven goals and three assists.  Two of his scores were match-winners, and he ranked eighth in the conference in goals, sixth in shots per match (2.81), and 10th in points.  He posted a team-high 45 shots, with 22 being on frame.

Aguilar Valencia, a native of Calima, Colombia, was third on the Patriot squad in scoring with four goals and one assist.  He scored the match-winning goal in a road win at Erskine College.  He was second on the team with 38 shots, 15 of which were on frame.

Buelga, a native of Gijon, Spain, played in all 16 matches, recorded one and three assists, posted 21 shots, and averaged 83 minutes played per match.  He scored the match-winner in a 2-1 win over Converse University.

Milla, a native of Geiselwind, Germany, moved into the starting line-up midway through season and recorded a 5-1-2 mark in eight starts.  He ranks ninth nationally in goals against average (and leads the conference) at 0.63, while ranking seventh nationally in save percentage at 0.853.  He has made 29 saves and produced four shutouts.

This group has helped Francis Marion to an 8-3-5 mark this year, a third consecutive East Division championship, and the top seed in the Conference Carolinas Tournament.  FMU will host eighth-seeded Lees-McRae College (5-5-7) in a quarterfinal-round match on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. 

Garda is a product of Dominicos, while Guevara is a finance major and a graduate of Unidad Educativa Particular Javier, and Benistant is part of the MBA program at Francis Marion and is a product of Lycée Marcel Gimond.  Aguilar Valencia is a business administration and management major and is a graduate of Institucion Educativa Bartolome de las Casas, while Buelga is a product of IES Montevil, and Milla is majoring in sports management and is a product of Alexander von Humboldt Schule.