HAYS, Kansas – In advance of the 2025 GAC/MIAA Men’s Soccer Championships, the league office announced its all-conference teams, year-end superlative awards and academic honor roll. Regular-season champion Fort Hays State saw Elias Ovelar Semeniuk and Tadhg Walsh unanimously named the Offensive Player and Midfielder of the Year, respectively. Tiger goalkeeper Payton Roehrich won Newcomer of the Year and Alex Nichols garnered Coach of the Year. Rogers State’s Alex Laing earned Defensive Player of the Year. Newman’s Cameron Schroder and Rogers State’s Brandon O’Rourke each received the Elite Scholar Athlete award, presented by Conway Regional Health System.
Ovelar Semeniuk, Walsh, Roehrich and Nichols spearheaded the Tigers’ undefeated regular season, a 15-0-3 record, and a No. 4 national ranking. They became the first team in league history to navigate the conference schedule without a loss, 11-0-1. Ovelar Semeniuk led the GAC/MIAA in goals, 11; game-winning goals, five; and points, 26. Walsh added four goals and five assists. His 13 points rank sixth in the conference. In his freshman campaign, Roehrich allowed a goal in just four of his 18 appearances. He ranks in the top-10 nationally in goals-against average, shutouts and saves percentage. Under Nichols, the Tigers lead the nation in goal differential, +48 and finished the regular season as one of four DII teams without a loss.
Laing became third Hillcat and second straight lauded as Defensive Player of the Year. Rogers State tallied 10 shutouts, fifth most in Division II, and finished the regular season with a goals-against average of 0.611, the ninth-best mark in DII.
2025 GAC/MIAA MEN’S SOCCER AWARDS
Ovelar Semeniuk, Walsh, Roehrich and Laing added spots on the All-GAC/MIAA First Team to their postseason honors. Tiger defender Dimitry Tchantcheu gave Fort Hays State a league-high four First-Team selections. Laing’s fellow defender Artur Carvalho and forward Louis Bassett gave the Hillcats three First-Team honorees. Bassett’s six assists rank third in the conference and his 12 points place eighth.
Newman and Northeastern State and landed two on the First Team. Forward Gabriel Dias Juliani and midfielder Yohsuke Ono represented the Jets while RiverHawk forward Carter Adams and midfielder Carl Murch made the team. Dias Juliani scored seven goals - three game winners - and totaled 18 points. Ono added four goals and four assists. Adams ranked second in the league in goals, nine, and points, 21. Two of Murch’s three goals resulted in game winners. Ouachita Baptist midfielder Andy Castellanos and Southern Nazarene defender Keshon Carter filled out the team. Castellanos led the Tigers with four assists and six points. Carter became a two-time First-Team defender.
Rogers State produced a league-high four players on the All-GAC/MIAA Second Team in O’Rourke, midfielders Oliver Hemlin and Hayden Parker and goalkeeper Jaxon Kendall. Fort Hays State placed three - forwards Bastian Carlman and Juan Linares and defender Mamadou Oumar Ndiaye - on the team. Newman and Southern Nazarene each had two representatives in Gustavo Dias Juliani and Gregoire Henri, for the Jets, and Baptiste Auvray and Junior Duran from the Crimson Storm. Harding defender Sikan Akpanudo and Northeastern State defender Ethan Van Dusen rounded out the team.
The Honorable Mention Team consisted of Newman’s Eduardo Dos Santos, Kei Nagakura, Daiki Okada, Francisco Pinochet and Gibran Villalobos; Fort Hays State’s Harrison Bensouda, Jackson Elgas, Joseph Street and Oliver Wright; Ouachita Baptist’s Alexis Murrillo, Xavier O’Dwyer and Dillon Staal; Northeastern State’s Kash Dunkel and Cameron McColloch; Rogers State’s Tom Dixon and Ashton Medina plus Southern Nazarene’s Francisco Chong and Tiago Moreira.
A total of 60 student-athletes placed on the GAC Academic Honor Roll - Fort Hays State’s Harrison Bensouda, Bastian Carlman, Jackson Elgas, Collin Hershberger, Simon Niksch, Elias Ovelar Semeniuk, Dimitry Tchantcheu, Tadhg Walsh and Oliver Wright; Harding’s Aitor Scholl and Caden Morris; Newman’s Fabian Alvarez, Gabriel Dias Juliani, Gustavo Dias Juliani, Jonathan Garcia, Eduardo Dos Santos, Gael Gonzalez, Samuel Lopez, Brandon Garcia, Sergio Morales Diaz and Carlo Silva; Northeastern State’s Carter Adams, Joshua Adeyemi, Evan Boss, Jack Hendrickson, Thomas Maestranzi, Carl Murch and Guilherme Rocha Nakamura; Ouachita Baptist’s Kristian Baker, Alfonso Gonzalez Gomez, Jack Langford, Isaac Murie, Xavier O’Dwyer, Hunter Reck, Jacoby Welsh and Tavin Wright; Rogers State’s Artur Carvalho, Carson Copenhaver, Casey Copenhaver, Thomas Dixon, Alex Fletcher, Oliver Hemlin, Matthew Hepner, Grayson Horsley, Jaxon Kendall, Conor Mills, Hayden Parker, Sam Ryder, Grainger Scott and Kaleb Trussell; Southern Nazarene’s Benjamin Alimasi, Aimar Aramendia, Konner Baartman, Lucas Beja, Christian Irizarry, Bekir Lekic, Josue Moreno, Dylan Roberts, Lawm Sangzuala and Jordy Vasquez.