Kansas City, KS – Less than 10 days after helping the Falcons' to their ninth NCAA Division III Men's Soccer National Championship, Messiah College sophomore
Jeremy Payne was honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) as the National Player of the Year.
Payne becomes the sixth player in Messiah men's soccer history to win the award, though he is the first sophomore to do so. Previous Messiah recipients of the National Player of the Year award include Hayden Woodworth, David McClellan, Kai Kasiguran, JD Binger, and Geoff Pezon—all seniors when they received the honor.
Beginning with Woodworth's award in 2002, Messiah players have now earned six of the past 11 national honors.
“It's a very special recognition,” Messiah head coach
Brad McCarty said. “It's a true reflection of the player that Jeremy is, and of all the players that make up our program. It takes great teammates to have someone win this award.”
Payne was named
First Team Mid-Atlantic All-Region and
First Team All-American this year, with both honors being the first of his young career. Undoubtedly one of the toughest matchups in all of NCAA Division III men's soccer, Payne led the Falcons in both goals (17) and points (44). His 10 assists also tied him with
Joshua Wood and
Brian Ramirez for the second-most on Messiah's team.
In the Falcons'
five-game run to the National Championship, Payne scored three goals and collected four assists.
“Jeremy led our team in points, and his ability to create so many chances was critical to our success,” McCarty said, commenting on Payne's ability to show up in big spots.
Payne also tied Wood and
Jack Thompson for the team lead in game-winning goals, the most dramatic of which came in a
1-0 overtime win over Widener on the Falcons' Homecoming Day.
“We have a number of players that we rely on to create offense,” McCarty said, giving special reference to Messiah six-man rotation up front. “Part of his ability to garner this recognition is impacted by having really good teammate and being on a team that accomplished lofty goals.”
Playing with a dynamic skill set and strong, athletic frame, Payne was named the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year this season. Standing at 6'2”, he proved to be an extremely challenging mark for opposing defenses.
“When we recruited Jeremy, we knew he would be able to score the ball,” McCarty said about his powerful midfielder. “What has surprised us is his ability to interplay and help the team keep the ball. He doesn't lose the ball very often to the trap, to the dribble, or to the pass. As a result, he has a huge ability on our territory battle as we get to keep possession in our opponent's half.”
Payne's ability to control the Falcons' possessions made a big impact on the field, even as he was moved from target to midfield just one month into the season.
“He was always more familiar with the midfield, because that's what he knew before he came here,” McCarty said of Payne's positional shift. “His learning curve was to play target his first year and the beginning of this year. What was a big benefit to our team was his ability to bring some things he learned up front to his play in the middle.”
Many of those skills, including posting up and rolling off his defender, paid big dividends
in the Falcons' National Semifinal win over Loras College. In that edge-of-your-seat contest,
Mike Kovach's game-winner in overtime was set up by Payne's spin off his defender on the 18-yard line. (
Listen to the call the game-winner here!)
“His ability, his length, and his athleticism at our level is impactful,” McCarty said. “He's done a great job for us.”
Payne will be honored for his National Player of the Year award at the NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind., on January 19, 2013.
