BETHANY, Oklahoma – In advance of the 2024 GAC/MIAA Men’s Soccer Championships, the league office announced its all-conference teams, year-end superlative awards and academic honor roll. Southern Nazarene’s Unaiz Shajani repeated as Offensive Player of the Year. Rogers State’s Marcos Vasallo, Trindon Turner, Noah Preston-Watkins and Derek Larkin won Midfielder of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively. Turner and the Hillcats’ Brandon O’Rourke received the Elite Scholar Athlete award, presented by Conway Regional Health System.
2024 GAC/MIAA MEN’S SOCCER AWARDS
For the second-straight year, Shajani led the GAC/MIAA in both goals and points. His 13 goals rank ninth in the country and his 28 points place him 14th. He scored two game-winning goals. Vasallo led the Hillcats with eight goals and 20 points. Trindon Turner anchored a defense that surrendered just 1.11 goals per game. Preston-Watkins scored five goals and added three assists from his forward position. Larkin won his third GAC/MIAA Coach of the Year award after guiding the Hillcats to a share of the regular-season title. Turner and O’Rourke each own 4.00 grade-point averages.
Shajani, O’Rourke, Turner and Vasallo all placed on the All-GAC/MIAA First Team. Shajani made the team by unanimous consent. The top-seeded Crimson Storm finished with a league-high five First-Team selections as forward Junior Duran, midfielder Francisco Chong plus defenders Keshon Carter and Esteban Ramirez joined Shajani. Duran scored four goals - including three game winners. Chong added four points. Carter and Ramirez led a defense that produced the top goals-against average, 1.00, in the league.
Fort Hays State landed three on the First Team in forward Elias Ovelar Semeniuk, midfielder Tadhg Walsh and defender Marcos German. Semeniuk ranked third with eight goals and fifth with 19 points. Walsh’s 14 assists tie for first nationally. German added four goals and assists. The Tiger defense required their goalkeepers to make just 37 saves, fewest in the league.
Newman forward Alberto Romano and Rogers State Declan Viljoen filled out the First Team. Romano finished second to Shajani in goals, 12, and points, 25. Viljoen led the conference with five shutouts in league play. His 0.67 goals-against average and .830 save percentage - in GAC/MIAA play - also led all goalkeepers.
Preston-Watkins headlined the All-GAC/MIAA Second Team. His teammates - Louis Bassett, Artur Carvalho, Erik Hjertsson and Alex Laing - joined him on the team. Newman’s Gabriel Juliani Dias, Gustavo Juliani Dias, Caio Taschetto and Paulo Villalobos made the Second Team alongside Southern Nazarene’s Axel Agurcia and Andrej Krivokapic plus Fort Hays State’s Bryce Dickerso and Jeremiah Johnson.
The Honorable Mention Team consisted of Newman’s Juan Carlos, Gael Gonzalez, Cameron Schroder and Gibran Villalobos; Fort Hays State’s Bastian Carlman, Jackson Elgas and Felix Tellez Ramirez; Southern Nazarene’s Lucas Beja, Sasha Rabala and Niklas Stalzer; Northeastern State’s Donovan Aparicio and Javier Solis; Ouachita Baptist’s Kristian Baker and Dillon Staal plus Rogers State’s Sam Ryder.
The GAC Academic Honor Roll featured a total of 58 student-athletes to have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50, or higher, combined with at least one year of one-year of full-time college residency.