Horizon League Announces 2018 #HLMSOC Awards
INDIANAPOLIS – UIC junior midfielder Jesus Perez has been named the Horizon League Men’s Soccer Player of the Year and teammate Max Todd earned Offensive Player of the Year, while Wright State’s Dan Bent earned his second-straight Defensive Player of the Year honor and teammate Joel Sundell was named the Goalkeeper of the Year as voted upon by the League’s nine head coaches, announced the Horizon League on Monday. In addition, Alex Willis of Northern Kentucky was named Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year went to WSU’s Jake Slemker.
Perez is the first UIC player since 2015 to earn Player of the Year honors as he helped the Flames to their fourth consecutive top-2 seed. He finished the regular season leading the NCAA in assists per game at 0.75 and for the most assists in the nation with 12 helpers. The junior added three goals to finish inside the top-10 in overall points in the HL. During League play, the Waukegan, Ill. native was tied for second in assists with six, top-5 in points with 12 and top-10 in goals with three.
Todd becomes the first Flame to earn Offensive Player of the Year since Jorge Alvares in 2015, and enters the Horizon League tournament leading the League during #HLMSOC play with seven goals and ranks second in points with 15. Overall this season, Todd registered 26 points (12 g, 2 a), good for third in the HL, and finished second in the League with 12 goals. The senior is ninth in the NCAA with five game-winning goals for the Flames.
Bent joins Matt Hedges of Butler and Sergio Manesio of Cleveland State as the only #HLMSOC players to be named back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year as he helped lead Wright State to its second regular season title in three years. The senior defender started in all 16 matches this season and guided a WSU backline that allowed just six goals in League play, the fewest in the HL. Bent also added his first career goal this season in the regular season opener against UNC Asheville.
Sundell led the Horizon League with six shutouts this season and held a 0.90 goals-against average, second best in the League, after compiling 52 total saves. During #HLMSOC play, he registered 26 saves and tied for the HL lead with three shutouts and had a goals-against average of 0.72. The junior holds a 12-2-2 mark in goal for the nationally-ranked Raiders to become the first WSU goalkeeper to earn the honor.
Forward Willis made a big impact for the Norse all season long finishing in the top-5 during Horizon League play in points (13) and goals (6). The freshman ended the regular season tops in the League in points with 39 and goals with 16, while top-5 in assists with seven. Willis ended the regular season third in the nation in both total points and total goals.
First-year head coach Jake Slemker earns Coach of the Year, after leading the Raiders to their second regular season title in three years and helping WSU become nationally ranked, reaching as high as No. 16 in the country by the United Soccer Coaches. 2018 marks the fifth-straight season WSU has totaled double-digit wins and Slemker joins Brian Davis in 2016 as the only Wright State head coaches to be named Horizon League Coach of the Year.
Perez, Todd, Bent, Sundell and Willis highlight the All-Horizon League first team selections. The top-seeded Raiders also add junior forward Alec Phillipe and junior midfielder Jackson Dietrich to the all-league first team. Three Green Bay players earned first team honors including two backline defenders in Andre Baires and Buran Huseini and also midfielder Tomer Zloczower. Rounding out the all-league first team is Milwaukee senior defender Sean Reynolds.
The All-Horizon League second team is represented by three UIC players as goalkeeper Sawyer Jackman is joined by defender Jacob Graiber and Oscar Gonzalez. Wright State teammates Stefan Rokvic and Deri Corfe are also on the second team. Oakland and Cleveland State are the only other two teams to have multiple players on the all-league second team. Leading goal scorer for the No. 3 seed Golden Grizzlies Nebosja Popovic is joined by backline defender Nyal Higgins, while CSU’s Vlad Jandric and Thomas M'Barek earn second team honors. Junior forward Evan Conway of Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky sophomore midfielder Alex Greive round out the All-Horizon League second team.
NKU’s Willis headlines the All-Freshman Team along with teammate Stian Jørgensen. Seven schools were represented with Shawn Azcueta and Andreas Soerensen from Milwaukee, Luke Morrell and Napoleon Outlaw III of Oakland and Josiah Ash and Pau Mateo from UIC also having multiple members. IUPUI goalkeeper Quinn McCallion, who led the HL with 82 saves, Joey Bourgeois of Green Bay and Simar Perez of WSU round out the All-Freshman Team.
The Horizon League Men’s Soccer Championship kicks off on Monday, Nov. 5, with two quarterfinal contests. No. 3 Oakland hosts No. 6 Milwaukee, while No. 4 Green Bay welcomes No. 5 IUPUI. Both matches will kick off at 7 p.m. local time.
On Thursday, Nov. 8, the tournament will move to Alumni Field on the campus of Wright State for the semifinals and championship matches. The first semifinal will see No. 1 Wright State square off against the lowest remaining seed at 4 p.m. ET, with No. 2 UIC taking on the highest remaining seed at 7 p.m. ET. The championship contest will commence at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 10.
Every match of the 2018 Horizon League Women’s Soccer Championship will be streamed live on ESPN+ and fans can also follow all the action on social media by following @HorizonLeague.
For complete championship information go to the #HLMSOC Championship Central page, here.
2018 Horizon League Men’s Soccer Award Winners
Player of the Year: Jesus Perez, Jr., MF, UIC
Offensive Player of the Year: Max Todd, Sr., F, UIC
Defensive Player of the Year: Dan Bent, Sr., D, Wright State
Goalkeeper of the Year: Joel Sundell, Jr., GK, Wright State
Freshman of the Year: Alex Willis, F, Northern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Jake Slemker, Wright State
All-Horizon League First Team (alphabetical by school)
Player, School, Pos., Yr.
Alex Willis, Northern Kentucky, F, Fr.
Max Todd, UIC, F, Sr.
Alec Phillipe, Wright State, F, Jr.
Tomer Zloczower, Green Bay, MF, Jr.
Jesus Perez, UIC, MF, Jr.
Jackson Dietrich, Wright State, MF, Jr.
Andre Baires , Green Bay, D, Jr.
Buran Huseini, Green Bay, D, Sr.
Sean Reynolds, Milwaukee, D, Sr.
Dan Bent, Wright State, D, Sr.
Joel Sundell, Wright State, GK, Jr.
All-Horizon League Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Player, School, Pos., Yr.
Evan Conway, Milwaukee, F, Jr.
Nebosja Popovic, Oakland, F, Jr.
Stefan Rokvic, Wright State, F, Jr.
Vlad Jandric, Cleveland State, MF, Jr.
Alex Greive, Northern Kentucky, MF, So.
Oscar Gonzalez, UIC, MF, Sr.
Deri Corfe, Wright State, MF, Jr.
Thomas M'Barek, Cleveland State, D, So.
Nyal Higgins, Oakland, D, Jr.
Jacob Graiber, UIC, D, So.
Sawyer Jackman, UIC, GK, Sr.
Horizon League All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)
Player, School
Joey Bourgeois, Green Bay
Quinn McCallion, IUPUI
Shawn Azcueta, Milwaukee
Andreas Soerensen, Milwaukee
Stian Jørgensen, Northern Kentucky
Alex Willis, Northern Kentucky
Luke Morrell, Oakland
Napoleon Outlaw III, Oakland
Josiah Ash, UIC
Pau Mateo, UIC
Simar Perez, Wright State