ROME, Ga. – Salem soccer had two players, Darilyn Nieto and Sky Sykes, named to the 2023 USA South All-Conference Team when the league named honorees on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.

For the second time in as many seasons, Nieto was recognized as a First Team All-Conference performer. The Salem sophomore joins Brooke Bukas (2016, 2017) and Alyssa Denkovich (2018, 2019) as the only three players in program history to named First Team All-Conference in the USA South in their careers. It marks the second accolade from the USA South Conference for Nieto this season, who was named as the league's Player of the Week on September 4th.

Nieto concluded the 2023 season with 16 goals and 30 points, attempting 74 shots, 44 shots on goal and a .595 shots on goal percentage. She led the Spirits lineup in goals, points, shots, shots on goal and was second in shots on goal percentage among players with at least 15 shots on goal, trailing only Giselle Ramos (.733) in that category.

Nieto had four multi-goal performances during the course of the 16-match slate, which came against Hollins (five), St. Andrews (three), Pfeiffer (two) and N.C. Wesleyan (three) in succession. Her five goals against Hollins tied Tarryn Bundy's program record for most single-match goals. Meanwhile, her hat trick against N.C. Wesleyan established Nieto as the program leader for most career hat tricks (five), surpassing Sawyer Ferguson's previous record of four.

Through her first two seasons on the pitch, Nieto has 30 goals, 62 points, 176 shots and 111 shots on goal (.631 shots on goal percentage). Those 30 goals are tied with Bundy for fourth-most in program history. The Greensboro, N.C., native is one of just five players in Salem history to notch at least 10 goals in multiple seasons.

Sykes wrapped up her first season at Salem by being named to the USA South All-Sportsmanship team. She joins Jasmine Romero (2016), Amy Bounds (2017), Aliyah Rice (2018), Kim Sephaphathi (2019), Amanda Rojo (2021) and Alyson Gammons (2022) as recipients of the award.

Sykes was an integral part of the Salem defense in 16 matches, all starts, and dished out one assist along the way. With Sykes on defense, Salem limited opposing offenses to a .049 shot percentage and a .467 shots on goal percentage.

Individually, Southern Virginia's Makinna Winterton was named Player of the year and her coach, Robert Dahl, earned Coach of the Year honors. The Methodist duo of Yaneli Sanchez and Carolina Simpkins collected Rookie of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year accolades, respectively.

The 2023 USA South Women's Soccer All-Conference Team