Three Warhawks named NAIA Scholar Athletes | People

Auburn Montgomery junior defender Taian Souza, junior forward Cesar Kestring and senior goalkeeper Bosko Kovacevic were each recently named 2012 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes by the NAIA.

The trio was three of 315 total men’s soccer student-athlete’s recognized. In order to be nominated by an institution's head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved at least a junior academic status.

“This is another example of how complete our program is in terms of accomplishment on and off the field,” Head Coach Wulf Koch said. “We are very proud of all three of them.”

Souza has a grade-point average of 3.58 while majoring in business. The Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, native earned second-team all-conference honors this season, finishing with two goals and four assists in 22 games (21 starts). His goal with 16 seconds left sent AUM to its first Southern States Athletic Conference championship since 2006.

Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Kestring has a 3.56 GPA as a business major. He appeared in 16 games, making five starts for the Warhawks in 2012. He had three goals and one assist, including goals in back-to-back games against Faulkner (Oct. 27) and Spring Hill (Nov. 3) in the first round of the SSAC Tournament.
Also a business major, Kovacevic currently has a 3.93 grade-point average. The Krusevac, Serbia, native won both games he started in goal this year. He defeated Brewton-Parker on Sept. 28 and made three saves in a shutout win over Faulkner on Oct. 27 as the Warhawks celebrated Senior Night. The shutout was his first at AUM.

All three were additionally named to the SSAC All-Academic Team in November.

The Warhawks finished 2012 with an 18-4-2 record, winning the SSAC Championship and advancing to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament.

Source:  AUM Sports Information Director