ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Three Drake Bulldogs have been voted to the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete team, the league office announced today. Graduates Bradan Allen, Sam Thornton, and Declan Watters were selected to represent the Bulldogs due to their success on the pitch and in the classroom.

Allen, a native of Indianapolis, Ind. and former Wisconsin transfer, started all 14 games for Drake this season. He recorded an assist in the Bulldogs' season opener at Kansas City (8/25) and played the fourth-most minutes for Drake this season (1,193). Allen has already earned a degree in marketing while posting a 3.94 grade points average in the university's MBA program.

Sam Thornton is one of two international Drake students to make this respected list. Thornton hails from Manchester, England and has been an important part of Drake's success on the pitch. He started all but one of the Bulldogs' games this season as the second-leading scorer with 14 points on five goals, two of which were game-winners, and team-high four assists. His distribution total ranks sixth in the MVC. Thornton led Drake with a .250 shooting percentage on 20 total shots, nine reaching the target. The Leadership Development student is one of just three scholar-athlete honorees with a 4.00 grade point average.

Lastly, Declan Watters, another graduate student studying Leadership Development, earned scholar-athlete honors. Watters led Drake in minutes-played with 1,260 while starting all 14 games. He logged one point as the Bulldogs' primary defender with an assist in a 1-1 draw at Milwaukee (9/9). Watters anchored a Drake defense that allowed just 0.86 goals per game, 11. 43 shots per game, and 4.21 shots on goal per game. The Dublin, Ireland native has excelled in the classroom with a 3.88 GPA in his graduate program.

JP Armbruster of Belmont was named MVC Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year with a 4.00 grade point average while working towards a Master of Accountancy degree.
The 17-member team features student-athletes from six different countries, representing Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Spain, and the United States.  

The criteria for the all-MVC honor parallels the CSC (College Sports Communicators) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.00 scale). Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the regular season matches. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.