INDIANAPOLIS—The final four teams left in the men’s soccer bracket are preparing to continue their journey through the postseason as the Great Midwest Athletic Conference men’s soccer all-conference team and individual award winners were announced Thursday afternoon.
The league’s head coaches voted student-athletes to either first team or second team. Additionally, five athletes are chosen for individual awards as well as one Coach of the Year.
Tiffin University earned regular season championship honors for the third consecutive season, finishing with a conference record of 13-4-1. The Dragons are led by Co-Coach of the Year Rudy Brownell, who has led the team to an overall mark of 12-2. Brownell landed five student-athletes on the all-conference teams, including two individual award winners. Amara Kamara won Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Kamara has led a Tiffin defense that forced eight shutouts so far this season. He’s also scored two goals while starting every game. Caleb Gibbons, a graduate forward, has connected on seven goals this season, three of which were game-winners. Gibbons also registered three assists to total 21 points during the regular season. Gibbons and Kamara are joined by Anelson Azard as first-team selections. Azard ranks fourth in the league in goals scored with eight this season while starting in all 18 games so far at the forward position. The Dragons earned a first-round bye and are set to face No. 5 Kentucky Wesleyan in the semifinal round.
The duo of Keegan Grant and Oliver Lindstrom represent the No. 2 seed Findlay on the first team. Grant was voted Goalkeeper of the Year after leading the league in saves with 62 through 16 games. He registered a GAA of .935 while logging 1347:14 minutes in net. Lindstrom, a sophomore midfielder, has started in all 16 games for the Oilers, netting six goals and one assist.
Thomas More advanced to the semifinals for the second year in a row after upsetting No. 3 Ashland in the quarterfinals. Finn Battenstein and Tim Stolz represented the Saints on the first-team. Battenstein has started in all 18 games for Thomas More as a defender. He’s scored four goals and tabbed one assist so far this season. Stolz, a graduate midfielder, connected on two goals this season for the Saints.
Kentucky Wesleyan is the final team to advance to the semifinals after an exhilarating win over Lake Erie. The Panthers are led by Adrian Stokke and Calum Newson, two second-team selections.
Ohio Dominican’s Mamadou Sow was voted as the league’s top freshman after leading the conference in goals scored (10) and points (21) while appearing in 13 games and starting in 11.
Ashland and Lake Erie had two student-athletes apiece make appearances on first-team. For the Eagles, goalkeeper Ty Bowden and midfielder Oliver Lovell earned all-conference nods. Bowden finished the regular season fourth in GAA (1.325) and third in shutouts (6). Lovell has started in all 14 games for Ashland and totaled 10 points this season.
Tomas Fernandez and Luke Peperak of Lake Erie finish off individuals on the first-team. Fernandez has started in 15 games and has tabbed three assists this season. Peperak led the Storm in goals with nine this season. His nine goals is the second highest in the G-MAC. Additionally, Peperak leads the conference in shots with 23 and is second in points with 20.
The sport’s Elite 26 Award winner is Tiffin’s Felix Graf, a junior sports marketing major. The Elite 26 Award recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete at the conference championship level in his or her sport while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers.
Semifinal matches are set to take place at 11 A.M. ET and 1:30 P.M. ET with Tiffin serving as the host site. Additional championship information can be found on the Championship Central Page.
A full list of honorees can be found
HERE.