INDIANAPOLIS—It was a successful year on the pitch for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer teams. Ashland won their first Great Midwest title with a 2-1 win over Lake Erie College. Tiffin University was crowned regular season champions and was the host site for G-MAC Tournament.
Ashland, Tiffin, and Lake Erie all earned bids to the national tournament. The Eagles earned a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed in Super Region Three before falling to Parkside 3-2.
Tiffin was slotted at No. 4 and lost in PKs to Illinois Springfield in the opening round.
The Lake Erie Storm advanced to the final four of the NCAA Division II tournament, the furthest any soccer team from the Great Midwest has progressed at the national level. The Storm’s historic season concluded against Franklin Pierce, who would go on and win the national title.
In addition to outstanding team performances, several individual Great Midwest Student-Athletes were honored this postseason for their performances on the pitch.
Lake Erie’s Teddy Baker earned Third-Team All-American Honors, announced by the United Soccer Coaches Poll (USC) on Dec. 1. Baker was the 2021 Great Midwest Freshman of the Year as well as this year’s Offensive Player of the Year. He led the conference in goals with 17 and assists with 15 on the year. Overall, he averaged a league-high 2.13 points per game. Baker was also named USC's First-Team All-Midwest Region, announced on Nov. 29.
Four other student-athletes join Baker on the USC All-Midwest Region team. John Oshakemphe (TU), Ben Wiemann (LEC), and Haruki Kimara (AU) were selected as Second-Team All-Midwest Region, while Cedarville’s Jared Zacharias, Tiffin's George McCarthy, and Lake Erie's Tom Akinola earned Third-Team honors, respectively.
In addition to the United Soccer Coaches, the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA) also announced their All-American and All-Region selections. In total, 10 student-athletes represented the Great Midwest in the Midwest-Region.
Teddy Baker and Calum Newson earned All-America status for outstanding performances on the pitch. Baker was named First-Team All-America and Newson was a Third-Team selection after totaling 35 points on 14 goals in addition to seven assists on the season.
Baker and Tom Akinola from Lake Erie earned First-Team All-Region honors. The two were joined by Tiffin’s John Oshakpemhe and Kentucky Wesleyan’s Calum Newson to round out the Great Midwest members on First-Team.
Connor Mautino (LEC), Haruki Kimura (AU), Mauricio Ochoa Vazquez (CU), Juan Rosique Alvarez (TU), Thierry van den Bergh (TU), and Fabian Kiessetz (LEC) were Second-Team All Midwest Region selections.
A total of 26 student-athletes from either the Great Midwest, Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), or Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), were named first or second team.
Both organizations also recognized student-athlete performance in the classroom.
The College Sports Communications (CSC) announced Academic All-America teams were announced Wednesday (Dec. 7) afternoon.
Cedarville’s Johnny Stephens is one of six repeat selections at the Division II level for the award. Stephens was named a Second-Team honoree as he boasted a 3.86 cumulative GPA while majoring in Civil Engineering.
In additition to Stephens, a handful of student-athletes from the Great Midwest were named to the Academic All-District team. This award recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performance on the field and in the classroom.
2022 Academic All-District
Teddy Togliatti
Ashland University
Jonny Stephens
Cedarville University
Brett Vaughn
Cedarville University
Brendan Ash
University of Findlay
Andrew Boulton
University of Findlay
Bjoern Gilles
University of Findlay
David Hug
University of Findlay
Nick McCracken
University of Findlay
Christian Palushaj
University of Findlay
Chase Clark
Northwood University
Davide Frezzi
Tiffin University
Declan Lehmann
Tiffin University
John Oshakpemhe
Tiffin University
Tobias Rawson Paz
Tiffin University
Pablo Leigh Valencia
Tiffin University