BETHANY, Okla. – On Thursday, the Great American Conference announced its 2022 Men’s Soccer superlative awards, released the All-GAC teams and named its Scholar Athlete recipients. Northeastern State’s Flynn Semmerling captured Offensive Player of the Year. Southern Nazarene’s Alvaro Sanchez and Unaiz Shajani garnered Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, respectively. Fort Hays State’s Ethan Doud earned Midfielder of the Year and Rogers State’s Derek Larkin won Coach of the Year. Northeastern Oklahoma State’s Ryan McCully received the Elite Scholar Athlete Award.
2022 GAC MEN'S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS
Semmerling became the first RiverHawk named GAC/MIAA Offensive Player of the Year. He registered a conference-leading 14 goals and 32 points. He notched three multi-goal games. Shajani finished the regular season one goal and one point behind Semmerling’s lead. He scored 25 of his 31 points in 12 conference games. Sanchez became the Crimson Storm’s second all-time Defensive Player of the Year. He added a goal and an assist. Doud collected a goal and two assists. Larkin claimed his second Coach of the Year accolade
The Hilcats paced the league with four First-Team selections. Forward George Robinson tallied four goals and five assists. Midfielder Luke Morgan added three goals and three assists. Defender Sebastian Hernandez and goalkeeper Declan Viljoen helped the Hillcats produce the top goals-against average in the league, 0.83, and tie for the lead with eight shutouts.
In addition to Doud, Fort Hays State placed forward Blake Arndt and defender Haruya Iwasaki on the All-GAC/MIAA First Team. Arndt scored six goals, two game winners, and totaled 15 points. Iwasaki and the Tigers defense ranked second with a 0.94 goals-against average. He added two goals, one game winner.
Headlined by Shajani and Sanchez, the Crimson Storm also saw three members land on the All-GAC/MIAA First Team as midfielder Shun Kushima joined his teammates that helped Southern Nazarene win its second-straight regular-season title
McCully added a First-Team All-GAC/MIAA nod to his postseason accolades. He ranked third in the conference with seven goals, fourth with 17 points and tied for the lead with three game-winning goals. Harding midfielder Stefano Silva completed the First Team. He finished the season with five points - two goals and an assist - from his midfielder position.
The RiverHawks led with four All-GAC/MIAA Second-Team honorees in Daniel Burton, Niklas Kirhoff, Martin Martinez and Scott Woods. Rogers State and Southern Nazarene each placed three on the Second Team. Marcos Vasallo, Josh Milla and Trindon Turner represented the Hillcats while Bruno Ferreira, Kazuki Okazak and Eric Romero made the team from the Crimson Storm. Fort Hays State’s Odhran Lawlor, Harding’s Jaelen Jackson and Newman’s Felix Tellez Ramirez filled out the team.
The All-GAC/MIAA Honorable Mention Team consisted of Fort Hays State’s Kieran Brown, Jackson Elgas, Callum Frogson, Inigo Jimenez, Chris Rios-Cruz and Tadhg Walsh; Southern Nazarene’s Michele Barletta, Rennato Ramos, Juan Rodarte, Leonardo Schulz and Daniel Trojman; Northeastern State’s Donovan Aparicio, Jack Barrier, Davi Dornelles and Miguel Torres; Rogers State’s Grant King, Mike Lennon and Donal Rahill, Newman’s Carlos Bellosta Manchon and Ouachita Baptist’s Ebon Jordan.
McCully owns a 4.00 grade-point average in Finance. A total of 10 student-athletes earned the Distinguished Scholar Athlete award in Rogers State’s Blake Classen, Sebastian Hernandez, Grant King, Donal Rahill and George Robinson; Fort Hays State’s Kieran Brown and Lucas Petropoulos, Southern Nazarene’s Michelle Barletta and Alexandre Da Silva plus Northeastern State’s Luan Lamas.