ANNVILLE, Pa. - Just hours after the top-seeded Messiah men's soccer team punched their ticket to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game with a 4-0 victory over the Stevenson Mustangs, the Middle Atlantic Conference announced their end-of-season awards and All-MAC Commonwealth Teams for men's soccer. Among the honorees, were 10 Falcons, including
Cooper Robbins (Conference Defensive Player of the Year),
Ben Lefever (Conference Rookie of the Year), and head coach
Brad McCarty (Conference Coach of the Year).
In addition to his Defensive Player of the Year honors, Robbins was named to the First Team along with teammates
Micah Fitz,
Trevor Goodling,
Luke Groothoff, and
Shay Quintin. Second Team honors went to a trio of Falcons with
Lucas Kokolios,
Adam Cole, and
Nate Flanders receiving laurels.
Ben Lefever was named Honorable Mention and was one of just two freshman honored by the conference on Thursday.
After anchoring the defensive line for the Falcons for four years,
Cooper Robbins earned his first Conference Defensive Player of the Year nod. This season the Falcons' defense has been their strength with just 10 goals allowed and a 0.53 goals against average, Messiah is the top defense in the conference and ranks as the eighth best in NCAA Division III. Robbins has started all 19 games on defense and even found the back of the net on a penalty kick against Dickinson on Sept. 11.
With a First Team honor this season, Robbins has been a four-year All-MAC Commonwealth performer, including First Team nods in both his junior and senior seasons.
Joining Robbins on the All-Conference teams from the Falcons' defense unit are seniors
Shay Quintin and
Nate Flanders as well as junior
Adam Cole. In the back line, Quintin has made 15 starts and appeared in 17 games to earn his second-career All-MAC Commonwealth honor (Second Team in 2017). Junior
Adam Cole has appeared in all 19 games so far, making 18 starts to earn his first-career All-Conference nod with a Second Team honor.
Between the pipes,
Nate Flanders has logged over 1,600 minutes in his first season as a starter. After allowing seven goals in the first seven games of the season, Flanders and the Falcons' defense has buckled down, conceding just two goals in the last 12 games. Flanders has picked up 10 shutouts on the season, with nine coming in those final dozen contests. His 0.813 save percentage and 0.516 goals against average are both tops in the conference, earning him Second Team honors this season.
On the other side of the pitch, Messiah's offense has been spread around fairly equally with five different Falcons registering at least a dozen points. All five of those offensive-minded players earned All-Conference with
Micah Fitz,
Trevor Goodling, and
Luke Groothoff being named First Team. Goodling leads the Falcons with seven goals and two assists on the season. After starting one of the first four games of the season, Goodling thrust himself into the starting line-up with a dramatic hat trick performance against York, sending the game to overtime in the final seconds of regulation and scoring the game-winning goal four minutes later. Since then, Goodling has started every game with four more goals and a pair of assists. His five game-winning goals are a conference high and rank him 20th nationally.
Also from the midfield,
Luke Groothoff has impacted the Falcons on both sides of the ball. After missing the first seven games of the season due to injury, Groothoff immediately made his presence know, scoring in his first two starts of the year against Elizabethtown (Sept. 25) and John Carroll (Sept. 28). Since coming back into the line-up, Groothoff has been able to hold possession for the Falcons in the midfield while also finding dangerous moments to push forward on the attack. He has connected on five goals while dishing out a pair of assists in 12 games played this season.
Senior forward
Micah Fitz was also named First Team All-MAC Commonwealth after setting up his teammates from his right-wing position. On the season, Fitz tallied just twice, but his ability to create space for his teammates is second-to-none. Fitz showcased his one-on-one abilities last night in the Conference Semifinals, beating his defender on multiple occasions to set up a goal of his own and dish out two assists. After his two-assist performance last night, Fitz has nine on the season, tops in the MAC Commonwealth.
On the other side of the field,
Lucas Kokolios was named Second Team All-Conference from the left wing. The left-footer netted six goals on the season, with all of them coming in the last 11 games of the season. His Second Team All-Conference honor is the first of his career.
As mentioned,
Ben Lefever was honored as the Conference's Rookie of the Year, becoming the seventh Messiah men's soccer player to earn the honor. Lefever is the first MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year for the Falcons in eight years, with Jack Thompson earning the most recent award in the 2011 season. Lefever started all but one game for the Falcons this season, scoring six goals on the year. His tallies have come in streaks during his freshman year. In early September, Lefever struck in three-straight games against Muhlenberg (Sept. 7), Dickinson (Sept. 11), and Eastern Mennonite (Sept. 14). Lefever struck again in three-straight games in the last three matches for Messiah against Albright (Oct. 25), Stevenson (Oct.), and in the semifinals last night against Stevenson (Nov. 6).
Head coach
Brad McCarty earned his fourth-straight and sixth overall MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year honor. McCarty and his staff directed the Falcons to an overall record of 17-2-2 thus far, including a 17-0-2 record in their last 19 games. The Falcons went undefeated in the conference regular season with a 7-0-0 mark and will play in the program's 23 Conference Championship Game on Saturday when they host the Lycoming Warriors.
