Three Rio Grande Men's Soccer Players Named All-Americans
Three Rio Grande Men's Soccer Players Named All-Americans
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The University of Rio Grande earned one first team, one second team and one honorable mention selection to the 2014 NAIA Men's Soccer All-America teams announced Monday by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
Sophomore midfielder Pau Rodriguez was named to the first team, while senior goalkeeper Jon Dodson was a second team honoree and junior forward Luiz Filho was named to the honorable mention list.
The trio led veteran head coach Scott Morrissey's club to the KIAC/GCAC tournament title and the top seed in the NAIA National Tournament.
The RedStorm opened the tourney with a win over Baker (Kan.) University before suffering an upset loss at the hands of final site host Northwood (Fla.) University in the Sweet 16.
Rodriguez (Barcelona, Spain) led Rio with 14 goals and 34 points, while tying for the team lead in assists with six.
Dodson (Tiffin, OH), who spent all but 78:14 in goal for the RedStorm this season, allowed just 15 goals, while recording 40 saves and a .727 save percentage. He also recorded 10 shutouts en route to being named the KIAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Filho (Sao Paulo, Brazil), who missed a pair of games altogether and who didn't start in two others as a result of injury, finished second on the club in goals (13) and points (31). He tied for third on the team with five assists.
Rio Grande is now one of three schools tied fourth place, joining Auburn-Montgomery and Westmont (Calif.), on the all-time All-Americans list with 41 selections overall.
The teams were selected by the NAIA All-America committee, which consists of the NAIA-Men's Soccer Coaches Association Executive Committee, the National Championship Games Committee and four men's soccer coaches—selected based on geography. The first-, second- and third-teams all consisted of 11 members.
Davenport (Mich.) junior forward Dzenan Catic was honored as the 2014 Select Sport America-NAIA National Player of the Year. Catic becomes the first Panther and the first player from the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) to earn the award since the award's inception in 1997.
Catic, who becomes the first-ever NAIA All-American in Davenport men's soccer history, was No. 1 in the country in goals scored (39), total points (89), game-winning goals (8), goals per game (1.6) and points per game (3.6). The goals output was the most by an NAIA player since Hjortur Hjartarson of Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) had 48 in 2005.
Catic was part of Davenport's first-ever men's soccer national championship winning-program as the Panthers finished with a school-record 22-3-1 mark. During the championship, Catic had a hat-trick during a semifinal win on Dec. 5 and finished with 10 points (4 goals, 2 assists) in five national championship matches.
Ashford (Iowa) was the only institution to place two players on the All-America First Team – midfielder Casey Culver and defender Fernando Machado. The Saints join Mobile (Ala.) with the most combined performers (3) on the First, Second, or Third Teams. Mobile's Jubril Lawal and Massiah Gaetan were listed on the Second Team and goalkeeper Xavier Audergon earned Third Team accolades.
National runner-up Texas at Brownsville landed First-Teamer Ricardo Diegues, who tied the all-time national championship record with eight goals scored during the championship (in five matches.)
The remainder of the first team included goalkeeper Alex Guyer of Hastings (Neb.); defenders Aurelein Norest of MidAmerican Nazarene (Kan.) and Kalokwer Okot of Science & Arts (Okla.); midfielder Raul Beneit of Missouri Valley; and forwards Tyrone Martin of Indiana Wesleyan and Lucas Cordeiro of Oklahoma Wesleyan.
-- article courtesy of Rio Grande, http://www.rioredstorm.com/article/2295.php