HORIZON LEAGUE ANNOUNCES MEN'S SOCCER AWARDS
NOVEMBER 6//MEN'S SOCCER
INDIANAPOLIS – Wright State senior midfielder AJ Paterson has been named the 2017 Horizon League Men’s Soccer Player of the Year, while Green Bay’s senior Audi Jepson earned Offensive Player of the Year. Wright State’s senior Dan Bent has been named Defensive Player of the Year, as voted upon by the League’s 10 head coaches.
Paterson helped the Raiders earn the No. 4 seed after regular season play, and enters the Horizon League tournament with 7 goals and 14 points.
Jepson helped lead Green Bay to a first round bye after appearing in 13 games of the regular season. The forward also chipped in with nine goals and five assists for the Phoenix both of which are tops among conference leaders.
Northern Kentucky’s Jim Barkei was selected as the Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year, and forward Matteo Bennati from Belmont collected Freshman of the Year honors. Jeremy Bonomo of Green Bay was voted the League’s Coach of the Year after leading the Phoenix to an overall regular season win-lose-tie record of 8-4-3.
Barkei collected 55 saves to go along with eight shutouts. The goalkeeper played in 16 games for a total of 1500 minutes. First year Bennati recorded 26 shots throughout the regular season, resulting in three goals for Belmont.
Wright State’s Horizon League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year AJ Paterson and Dan Bent both earned First Team honors. Green Bay’s Jepson was joined by sophomore midfielder Tomer Zloczower. Senior Nick Moon and junior Sean Reynolds represent the Panthers on the First-Team All-League. UIC’s midfielder Jesus Perez and defender Joel Leon both claimed spots on the Horizon League First All-League Team. Northern Kentucky and Oakland each landed a player onto the team as well. Jim Barkei represented the Norse, as the Golden Grizzlies’ leading scorer Austin Ricci earned a spot on the team.
Wright State’s Joel Sundell was named Second Team All-League goalkeeper. Sundell was accompanied by teammates Sam DeRoy and Stefan Rokvic on the Second Team All-league list. Cleveland State placed three players on the Second Team, including midfielders Alec Nagucki, Noah Pio, and Vlad Jandric. Detroit Mercy and Green Bay each placed two players on Second Team All-League, as Grant Harrison and Spiro Pliakos rounded up the votes for the Titans and Buran Huseini, Marcos Bautista represented the Phoenix. Milwaukee, Oakland and UIC rounded out the list with one player. Vuk Latinovich represented the Panthers, Nyal Higgins for the Golden Grizzlies, and Max Todd represented the Flames.
Cleveland State defender Thomas M’Barek and Wright State midfielder Brayden McNitt both led the All-Freshman Team in votes. Green Bay’s Adam Mansa and Milwaukee’s stand-out goalkeeper Freddy Lorenzen also received a large number of votes. Alongside Lorenzen are teammates Jake Kelderman and Vuk Latinovich. UIC was represented by defender and forward Jacob Grabier and Peter Becht. Northern Kentucky and Oakland each placed one freshman on the team led by Norse Harvey Moyes and Golden Grizzlie Noah Jensen. Defender Florian Hoffman joined the Raiders’ McNitt.
The Horizon League Men’s Soccer Championship kicks off Monday, Nov. 6, with two quarterfinal contests. No. 3 Milwaukee hosts No. 6 Detroit Mercy, while No. 4 Wright State welcomes No. 5 Cleveland State. Both matches will kick off at 7 p.m. local time.
On Thursday, Nov. 9, the tournament will move to Flames Field on the campus of UIC for the semifinals and championship rounds. The first semifinal will see No. 1 Green Bay square off against the lowest remaining seed at 4 p.m. CT, with No. 2 UIC taking on the highest remaining seed at 7 p.m. CT. The championship contest will commence at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 11.
All five matches will be carried live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. On-site coverage will also be provided across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat by following “@HorizonLeague”.
Specialty Awards:
Player of the Year – AJ Paterson, Wright State
Offensive Player of the Year – Audi Jepson, Green Bay
Defensive Player of the Year – Dan Bent, Wright State
Coach of the Year – Jeremy Bonomo, Green Bay
Goalkeeper of the Year – Jim Barkei, Northern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year – Matteo Bennati, Belmont
First Team All-League
Tyler Moorman, Detroit Mercy, R-Sr., F
Audi Jepson, Green Bay, Sr., F
Tomer Zloczower, Green Bay, So., M
Nick Moon, Milwaukee, Sr.,F
Sean Reynolds, Milwaukee, Jr., D
Jim Barkei, N.Kentucky, Jr., GK
Austin Ricci, Oakland, Sr., M
Jesus Perez, UIC, So., M
Joel Leon, UIC, R-Sr., D
AJ Paterson, Wright State, Sr., M
Dan Bent, Wright State, Jr., D
Second Team All-League
Alec Nagucki, Cleveland State, Sr., M
Noah Pio, Cleveland State, Jr., M
Vlad Jandric, Cleveland State, So., M
Grant Harrison, Detroit Mercy, Jr., D
Spiro Pliakos, Detroit Mercy, Sr., F
Buran Huseini, Green Bay, Jr., D
Marcos Bautista, Green Bay, So., M
Vuk Latinovich, Milwaukee, Fr., M
Nyal Higgins, Oakland, So., D
Max Todd, UIC, Jr., F
Stefan Rokvic, Wright State, So., F
Sam DeRoy,Wright State, Sr., D
Joel Sundell, Wright State, So., GK
All-Freshman Team
Matteo Bennati, Belmont, F
Thomas M’Barek, Cleveland State, D
Kyle Bandyk, Detroit Mercy, M/F
Adam Mansa, Green Bay, D
Freddy Lorenzen, Milwaukee, GK
Jake Kelderman, Milwaukee, D
Vuk Latinovich, Milwaukee, M
Harvey Moyes, N. Kentucky, M
Noah Jensen, Oakland, M
Jacob Grabier, UIC, D
Peter Becht, UIC, F
Brayden McNitt, Wright State, M
Florian Hoffman, Wright State, D