INDIANAPOLIS – Bellarmine University senior forward Tomas Bernedo, Maryville University junior defender Iwan Webster, along with McKendree freshman midfielder Karson Huels and head coach Scott Gyllenborg have all garnered major postseason honors for the 2019 Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Soccer season, it was announced by the league office Thursday evening. Bernedo was voted by the league coaches as GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, Webster was picked as Defensive Player of the Year, Huels was chosen as Freshman of the Year while his head coach was voted Coach of the Year. A total of 35 standouts were named to the 2019 All-Conference Teams, as voted on by the league coaches, while 16 were chosen as GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship nominees for the sport with William Jewell selected as the team sportsmanship winner. The annual awards were presented Thursday at a reception on the eve of the GLVC Championship Tournament.
Bernedo becomes Bellarmine’s first standout recognized as the best offensive player in the league, while he is the third major honoree chosen behind 2018 Defensive Players of the Year Jonas Skulstad, 1995 Freshman of the Year Tito Iglesias, and 2017 co-Freshman of the Year Eddie Williamson. His head coach, Tim Chastonay, is the only other Knights major award winner, as he was chosen Coach of the Year in 2005. The forward played 17 games and was one of four to lead the league with 11 goals and also tied for the most game-winners with six. The forward added three assists to total the fourth-most points in the league with 25 and also ranked in tie for second overall with 51 shots, 3.00 shots per game, 1.47 points per game, 0.65 goals per game. In GLVC contests, the senior clocked in second with four game-winning goals and was fourth in shots (39), shots per game (2.79), and goals (eight) while fifth in points (19), points per game (1.36), and goals per game (0.57). Additionally, he helped his team to one of its best in program history, going unbeaten at 13-0-4 and 10-0-4 in the Conference through the regular season and holding a United Coaches Poll top-25 ranking at No. 12, and the second spot in the NCAA D-II Super Region 3 Rankings. On Oct. 21, Bernedo earned his first career GLVC Offensive Player of the Week award and was one of two players unanimously chosen to the All-GLVC First Team, which was his second unanimous distinction in a row.
Webster is the first Saint to be chosen as the top defensive player in the GLVC while just the third to win a major honor, as teammate JD Sohn was co-Freshman of the Year in 2017 and former teammate Christian Kjaersgaard was the top newcomer in 2015. The junior was an integral part of Maryville’s backline, which limited opponents to a GLVC-best 10 shutouts and a 0.56 goals against average, as well as a league-low 10 goals in 18 matches. He played every second in all but two of those games and also helped the team to top defensive marks in GLVC-only matches with 10 shutouts with the second-most goals allowed (eight) and goals against average (0.52) through 15. For those combined efforts, the Saints gleaned their highest-ever United Soccer Coaches ranking at No. 2 earlier in the season while they’re currently 17th in the nation and fourth in the region. On Sept. 16, Webster was named the GLVC Defensive Player of the Week and was selected to a spot on the All-GLVC First Team.
For the first time in GLVC history, Huels has earned a major men’s soccer honor for McKendree. The midfielder started all 17 games for the Bearcats and tallied a pair of assists, taking seven shots with three on goal. He helped McKendree defensively to hold opponents to a league-low 11 goals overall and seven in GLVC games, which also accounted for the best goals against average (0.45).
In addition to Huels, this marks the first time a McKendree skipper has been selected by his peers as Coach of the Year. Under Gyllenborg’s tutelage, the Bearcats have been nationally ranked for a large part of the season, including their current spot at No. 24 to go with fifth regionally. He also mentored three All-GLVC first-team honorees in unanimous junior forward James Stone, junior midfielder Eddie Davis, and junior goalkeeper Pachu Cortazar in addition to five others on the Second and Third teams. McKendree went 13-2-2 through the regular season with a 12-1-2 mark in GLVC action, which clinched their first-ever Regular Season title and the No. 1 seed in the Championship Tournament.
McKendree earned a league-best eight honorees of the 35 All-Conference selections, while Bellarmine boasted seven. University of Indianapolis followed with five and Maryville had four picks, while University of Southern Indiana earned three. Lindenwood University and Quincy University tallied two, while Drury University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Rockhurst University, and University of Illinois Springfield had one apiece to round out the list.
Joining Bernedo, Webster, Stone, Davis, and Cortazar on the First Team was three other Bellarmine standouts in junior midfielder Micah Linscott, senior defender Chris Hunt, and junior defender Eddie Williamson. Also picking up first-team distinction was two from UIndy in senior forward Javier Steinwascher and senior midfielder Ben Rohder and along with Maryville junior midfielder JD Sohn and Southern Indiana senior midfielder Sean Rickey.
The league also recognized 16 GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees and one Team award winner: William Jewell. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.
A complete list of the three All-Conference Teams and major postseason award winners follows below.
2019 ALL-GLVC MEN’S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE & POSTSEASON AWARDS
2019 GLVC Offensive Player of the Year: Tomas Bernedo, F, Sr., Bellarmine
2019 GLVC Defensive Player of the Year: Iwan Webster, D, Jr., Maryville
2019 GLVC Freshman of the Year: Karson Huels, MF, McKendree
2019 GLVC Coach of the Year: Scott Gyllenborg, McKendree
FIRST TEAM
TOMAS BERNEDO, Sr., F, BU
Eddie Williamson, Jr., D, BU
Chris Hunt, Sr., D, BU
Micah Linscott, Jr., MF, BU
Ben Rohder, Sr., MF, UINDY
Javier Steinwascher, Sr., F, UINDY
JD Sohn, Jr., MF, MU
Iwan Webster, Jr., D, MU
Pachu Cortazar, Jr., GK, MCK
Eddie Davis, Jr., MF, MCK
JAMES STONE, Jr., F, MCK
Sean Rickey, Sr., MF, USI
UNANIMOUS SELECTION
*Extra Member due to tie |
SECOND TEAM
Connor Range, So., GK, BU
Jonas Skulstad, Jr., D, BU
Jamie O'Brien, So., F, DU
Vincent Stone, Jr., D, UINDY
Luke McBeth, So., F, LWU
Zulfikar Karimi, Sr., MF, MU
Matthew Moran, Sr., D, MCK
Magnus Andersen, Sr., F, UMSL
Aubrey Reis, Jr., F, QU
Cooper Reis, Sr., MF, QU
Federico Verlicchi, Jr., MF, RU
|
THIRD TEAM
Donald Aviles, Sr., MF, BU
Mario Falsone, Sr., F, UIS
Aba Phutin, Sr., MF, UINDY
Alejandro Steinwascher, So., F, UINDY
Tim Licht, Sr., GK, LWU
Mirza Hasecic, So., MF, MU
Ariel Cardozo, Jr., D, MCK
Gonzalo Correa, Jr., F, MCK
Javier Soto, Sr., D, MCK
Mac Thomalla, Jr., D, MCK
Drew Albert, Sr., D, USI
Eric Ramirez, Sr., F, USI
*Extra Member due to tie
|
2019 JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP NOMINEES
Chris Hunt, BU
Jamie O'Brien, DU
Drew Keller, UIS
Javier Steinwascher, UINDY
CJ Couper, LEWIS
Thomas Hutcheson, LWU
Iwan Webster, MU
Matt Moran, MCK
Joe Mueller, S&T
Max Wootten, UMSL
Adam Whybrow, QU
Preston Mboob, RU
Jonathan Faas, USI
Alberto Rodriguez, SBU
Ryan Stites, TSU
Keaton Wiley, WJC
2019 JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
William Jewell