The 2023 campaign saw several local players have breakout seasons. Others were established already and built on that success. Here are the 2023 Boys Soccer Player of the Year Nominees. Coaches were permitted to nominate up to a max of 6 players. In all, our POY Nominees list stands at 25.

Next, BLITZ will carefully whittle down the nominee list into a finalist group to be up for Player of the Year. The public will then get to vote for a last finalist from a handful of select nominees who didn’t make our finalist cut.

NOTE: Habersham Central and Towns County declined to nominate any players.

Trent Baker – Union County SR GK #20

STATS: 3 GA, 0.51 GAA, 6 Shutouts, 1 GA in regulation in state playoffs, All-Region HM

Austin Ball – Tallulah Falls JR F #9

STATS: 39 G, 16 A, Region 8-A DI Player of the Year

Brauner Boegner – Lumpkin County JR GK #1

STATS: 89 Saves, 4 Clean Sheets, 8 Wins

Evan Bohms – Union County JR CM #2

STATS: 9 G, 7 A, 2nd Team All-Region

Cohen Cantrell – White County JR F #7

STATS: 23 G, 6 A

Riley Christopher – Jefferson SR

STATS: 7 G, 2 A

Isaac DeFoor – Stephens County SR M/F #1

STATS: 2 G, 4A, 8-AAA All-Region

Grant English – Banks County SR GK #23

STATS: 100+ Saves

Nicholas Esqueda – Lumpkin County JR CM #10

STATS: 17 G, 6 A

Thad Gensler – White County JR F #4

STATS: 10 G

Jake Hall – Tallulah Falls SR CM #8

STATS: 26 G, 10 A, 8-A DI All-Region

Chase Johnson – Jefferson SR GK

STATS: 8 Shutouts, 0.9 GAA

Luis Lopez – Rabun County JR #10

STATS: 8 G, 4 A

Zuriel Mancillas – Union County JR CM #10

STATS: 5 G, 9 A, 1st Team All-Region

Isaiah Ortiz – Union County SR D #8

STATS: 1 G, 2 A, incredible defense, 6 Shutouts, 1st Team All-Region

Navy Ott – Stephens County SR M #8

STATS: 8 G, 4A, 8-AAA All-Region

Ezekiel Ramos – Rabun County SR #11

STATS: 7 G, 2 A

Rodolfo Ramos – Rabun County SO #4

STATS: 8 G, 6 A

Kelton Reynolds – Tallulah Falls SO GK #0

STATS: 13 Shutouts, 77 Saves, 6 A, 0.35 GAA, 1 G, 2 A, 8-A DI All-Region

Brit Shaw – Tallulah Falls JR CB #2

STATS: 13 Shutouts, 1 G, 8-A DI All-Region

Hector Tenorio – Dawson County SO #17

STATS: 3 G (missing info)

Chris Valle – Commerce SO M #11

STATS: 8 G, 1 A

Jhonny Valle – Commerce SR F #4

STATS: 23 G, 1 A

Wilson Walker – Union County SR F #6

STATS: 17 G, 4 A, All-Region HM

Jake Wehrstein – Tallulah Falls JR CB #7

STATS: 13 Shutouts, 2 G, 1 A, 2 Goal Line Clearances, Region 8-A DI Defensive Player of the Year