2017 Great Midwest Men's Soccer All-Conference Team (PDF)
VIENNA, WV – On the eve of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship semifinals, the annual all-conference team was introduced to the four teams remaining on Wednesday evening.
The Great Midwest Championship banquet was conducted at Ohio Valley University with the top-seeded Fighting Scots serving as this year’s host. Also in attendance was No. 2 Davis & Elkins, No. 3 Findlay and No. 5 Cedarville.
Each head coach was able to step up to the stage and say a few words about their respective seasons.
A total of 22 student-athletes comprised the 2017 Great Midwest Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team as decided upon by the league’s coaches.
Accepting the regular-season championship trophy for the Fighting Scots was senior goalkeeper Carlos Rubio. Ohio Valley placed a conference-leading eight players on this year’s all-conference list, including three on the first team and five on the second team.
The Fighting Scots reaped the rewards for a phenomenal run so far in 2017, which has included a No. 6 national ranking and back-to-back weeks in the top position of the NCAA Midwest Region rankings.
Four different individual awards were also revealed as Ohio Valley claimed three of the four top honors.
Great Midwest Offensive Player of the Year was awarded to junior forward
Celso Riveros, who goes into the next round of the playoffs tied for the team lead in points. Riveros recorded 11 goals and three assists in the season to date for an OVU offense that outscored opponents by a combined total of 51-8 in 19 games.
Part of that defensive domination translated into
Great Midwest Defensive Player of the Year recognition for Ohio Valley senior keeper
Carlos Rubio, a two-time conference player of the week and also a United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week this year alone. Rubio led the league with a miniscule 0.41 goals against average and recorded a single-season conference record 13 shutouts.
Rubio’s next winning decision would tie him for the career conference record in wins at 36 with Cedarville’s Ethan Dewhurst. The talented netminder already has secured the career conference shutout record with 25 and his save percentage of .761 is third all-time.
Guiding the program to uncharted heights was third year leader
Luis Rincon, tabbed by his peers for
Great Midwest Coach of the Year. With a 15-1-3 overall record and an undefeated run through the league schedule at 11-0-3, the Fighting Scots have spent the last seven consecutive weeks in the national rankings.
No. 2 seed Davis & Elkins, ranked fourth earlier in the day in the Midwest Region rankings, placed four players on the all-conference first team, including former Great Midwest Players of the Week Tim Staerz, Pablo Salvador Lopez, Friedrich Peter and
Rafa Moreno.
Moreno’s terrific rookie season was awarded with
Great Midwest Freshman of the Year honors. Moreno tied for the league lead in goals scored with 12. He finished third in the league in total points with 26.
The first team also had Cedarville’s John Schwien and Findlay’s Josh Burton, one of the league leaders in total points. Lockdown defenders Frank Down of Trevecca and Ellis Roberts of Alderson Broaddus were voted to the first team, a position that flies under the radar because of statistical value.
AB had two of last year’s Great Midwest individual award winners, Shavon John-Brown (Offensive) and Ashley Sibisi (Freshman) earn second-team honors. Callum Doyle also represented the Battlers. OVU’s Guillermo Segovia tied for fourth in the league with 25 points to help lead a contingent of five Fighting Scots on the second team. D&E’s Mads Kaiser and Hedi Mehnaoui were major pieces to last year’s regular-season title run for the Senators.
Semifinal contests will be conducted tomorrow at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio, with both games being streamed live on the Great Midwest Digital Network. No. 5 Cedarville will face No. 1 Ohio Valley at 11 a.m. ET followed by No. 3 Findlay vs. No. 2 Davis & Elkins at 1:30 p.m. ET.