KANSAS CITY, Mo. - On Monday evening, the United Soccer Coaches announced the 2019 All-Region teams and among the student-athletes honored were four Messiah men's soccer players. Among the honorees were senior defenders
Cooper Robbins and
Shay Quintin along with junior midfielder
Trevor Goodling and sophomore midfielder
Luke Groothoff.
The All-Region accolades are the first of the career for Robbins, Quintin, and Goodling, but Groothoff garnered his second-straight First Team honors.
As mentioned, Groothoff was named First Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region along with Robbins while Quintin and Goodling earned spots on the Second Team.
Cooper Robbins' First Team All-Region honor comes just weeks after he was named the MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Year. Robbins anchored a defensive line for the Falcons that allowed just 16 goals and owned a 0.70 goals against average. Messiah was the top defense in the conference and ranked as the 15th best in NCAA Division III this season. Robbins started all 23 games on defense and even found the back of the net on a penalty kick against Dickinson on Sept. 11.
Shay Quintin earned his first career All-Region honor after appearing in 21 matches and earning 19 starts after fighting the injury bug early in the season. Quintin was named Second Team as a defender and despite playing an integral part of Messiah's backline, Quintin dished out a pair of assists this season. He assisted on the game-winning goal against Eastern Mennonite on Sept. 14 and found Goodling for a tally on Oct. 8 against Arcadia.
Despite a position change this season,
Luke Groothoff earned his second-straight First Team All-Region honor. Last season, Groothoff claimed the honor on defense, but picked up the accolade in the midfield this season. After missing the first seven games of the season, Groothoff stepped into a key role in the midfield, holding possession while also being a threat offensively. He scored six goals and assisted on three others while appearing in 16 games this year.
Trevor Goodling stepped into the leading goal scorer role this season and earned his first-career All-Region honor as a midfield on the Second Team. Goodling made his presence known against York College on Sept. 18. After being held scoreless in the first six games of the season, Goodling netted the only hat trick of the season for the Falcons, including the game-tying goal with 15 seconds left in regulation and then netting the game winner in overtime. His 11 goals and 24 points were both team highs.
Including these four accolades, Messiah men's soccer now has 125 all-time All-Region honors.
The Falcons wrapped up the 2019 season in the Sweet 16 two weeks ago. Messiah fell to RPI 3-2 in overtime to conclude the 2019 campaign with an overall record of 18-3-2.
