PEORIA, Ill. – The Drake University men's soccer team had seven student-athletes earn All-Missouri Valley Conference recognition as the annual all-conference teams were revealed Thursday evening at the MVC Men's Soccer Awards Reception in Peoria, Ill.
Two Bulldogs, James Wypych (Wellington, New Zealand) and Alec Bartlett (Overland Park, Kan.), earned first team All-MVC honors. Wypych, a sophomore midfielder, was fourth in the MVC in scoring with five goals on 31 shots and four assists. Bartlett, a redshirt junior defender, finished ninth in the MVC in shots with 30 and helped anchor a defense that recorded three shutouts, the fifth-most in the league.
A pair of Drake midfielders in Mueng Sunday (Coralville, Iowa) and Kyle Whigham (Overland Park, Kan.) earned honorable mention All-MVC honors. Sunday scored three points on the season with a goal and an assist while putting six of his 17 shots on goal during his sophomore season. Whigham, a redshirt junior, appeared in and started all 19 games with three shots.
Drake's young team tied for the most MVC All-Freshman selections with three Bulldogs on the MVC All-Freshman team including forwards Steven Enna (Overland Park, Kan.) and Gabe Edel (Greenwood, Ind.) and defender Mason Leonard (Overland Park, Kan.). Enna, who had Drake's lone goal in the MVC Tournament, finished the season second on the team in scoring with three goals despite coming off the bench in seven of the 16 games he appeared in. Edel scored once on nine shots with four of them being on target while Leonard had a goal and an assist from his backline position while appearing in and starting all 19 games as a freshman.
The MVC also handed out its specialty awards with SIUE has claiming two of the league's top individual honors, with the Cougars' senior midfielder Christian Volesky taking the league's Player of the Year honors, while his senior teammate Matt Polster was tabbed the Valley's Defensive Player of the Year.
Loyola claimed the league's other two specialty award winners as the Ramblers' junior net minder Tim Dobrowolski was named the Goalkeeper of the Year and rookie midfielder Kyle Thomson was named the league's Freshman of the Year.
Loyola's coaching staff, including head coach Neil Jones and assistants Nate Boyden, Brian Plotkin and Jeremy Proud, earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors in just their second season in the Valley.
