The best regular season in school history culminated in a big reward for Drury men's soccer on Thursday, as 10 Panthers earned All-Great Lakes Valley Conference recognition as the league announced its award-winners.
Highlighting the honorees was the naming of first-year Drury head coach Ryan Swan as the league's Coach of the Year award recipient, and the selection to the All-GLVC First Team of five Panthers - keeper Stephen Conner, forward Steve Wilczewski, midfielders Ben Nabers and Peter Higgins and defender Ben Taylor. Conner was also named the league's Defensive Player of the Year.
Also honored among the Panthers were Second Team All-GLVC selections Micah Whorton at forward and Blake Wilson at defender, and Third Team picks in Andrew Bordelon at midfielder and Connor McClellan and Grant Bowden at backs.
Wilczewski, Nabers and Bordelon are seniors, the rest members of the junior class for the Panthers, who are 16-1 overall - most wins in school history - ranked fourth nationally and will take the top seed into Sunday's first-round match with No. 8 Missouri-St. Louis at Harrison Stadium. Drury will close out the regular season on Friday with a 5 p.m. non-conference match against Northeastern State at Harrison.
Northern Kentucky’s Steven Beattie was named the GLVC Offensive Player of the Year in the awards, as selected by the conference’s 15 head coaches.
Joining Beattie and DU's Conner on the All-GLVC First Team are Bellarmine’s Ross Hopkins, Drury’s Wilczewski, Nabers, Higgins and Taylor, Lewis’ Nestor Hernandez and Zac Bond and Northern Kentucky’s Seth Eckerlin and Chris Dobrowolski.
Beattie, a junior forward for the Norse, has captured the league’s top offensive award for the second straight season. The 2008 Ron Lenz National Player of the Year returned in 2009 to post 15 goals and five assists in 14 league matches. Beattie led the conference in shots (83), points (35), goals and game-winning goals (5). He also tied for fourth in the league in assists and helped NKU finish second in the GLVC standings at 11-3-0.
Overall during the year, Beattie has led the Norse to a 14-4-1 record. In the 19 matches he has 18 goals and six assists for 42 points. He also set the NKU all-time goal scoring mark in 2009. Beattie has 50 goals and 14 assists in his three seasons with the Norse.
Conner, a sophomore goalkeeper for the Panthers, helped key a 13-1-0 conference record for Drury in 2009. In 13 league matches, Conner allowed just six goals and finished the conference season with a 0.46 goals against average. He made 39 saves and posted a 0.867 save percentage. In addition, Conner registered eight shutouts against league opponents and led the league in goals against average, shutouts and save percentage.
Overall in 2009, Conner has allowed eight goals and boasts a 0.50 goals against average. He has ten shutouts, 50 saves and a 0.862 save percentage. He is currently ranked sixth in NCAA Division II in goals against average and 11th in save percentage.
Lewis University’s Sebastian Kieruzal (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Hoffman Estates) has been named the 2009 GLVC Freshman of the Year. Kieruzal helped pace the 17th-ranked Flyers to a 10-3-0 record in league matches. He allowed just nine goals and finished with a 0.70 goals against average, good for second in the league behind Conner. He also posted six shutouts and a 0.842 save percentage by notching 48 saves.
In addition to the first-team selections, the GLVC has also announced an 11-member All-GLVC Second Team and an 11-member All-GLVC Third Team.
Offensive Player of the Year: Steven Beattie, Northern Kentucky, Jr., F
Defensive Player of the Year: Stephen Conner, Drury, So., GK
Freshman of the Year: Sebastian Kierzual, Lewis, Fr., GK
Coach of the Year: Ryan Swan, Drury
ALL-GLVC FIRST TEAM
Forwards
Steven Beattie, Northern Kentucky, Jr.
Nestor Hernandez, Lewis, Sr.
Steve Wilczewski, Drury, Sr.
Midfielders
Seth Eckerlin, Northern Kentucky, Sr.
Peter Higgins, Drury, Jr.
Ross Hopkins, Bellarmine, Jr.
Ben Nabers, Drury, Sr.
Backs
Zac Bond, Lewis, Jr.
Chris Dobrowolski, Northern Kentucky, Sr.
Ben Taylor, Drury, Jr.
Goalkeeper
Stephen Conner, Drury, So.
ALL-GLVC SECOND TEAM
Forwards
Brad Barraclough, Bellarmine, Jr.
Braden Bishop, Northern Kentucky, Sr.
Greg Gehrig, Saint Joseph’s, Sr.
Micah Whorton, Drury, Jr.
Midfielders
Mardoche Beya, Lewis, Jr.
Jose Ibarra, Lewis, Jr.
David Kekec, Missouri S&T, Jr.
Backs
Matt Gloshen, UW-Parkside, Jr.
Alex Koprowski, Lewis, Sr.
Blake Wilson, Drury, Jr.
Goalkeeper
Ryan Samuels, Kentucky Wesleyan, Jr.
ALL-GLVC THIRD TEAM
Forwards
Bojan Adler, Saint Joseph’s, Jr.
Johnson Thao, UW-Parkside, Sr.
Jack Wedemeier, Quincy, Jr.
Midfielders
Niklas Boedts, UW-Parkside, So.
Andrew Bordelon, Drury, Sr.
Heraclio Perez, Rockhurst, Sr.
Backs
Grant Bowden, Drury, Jr.
Connor McClellan, Drury, Jr.
Grant Wheeler, Bellarmine, Jr.
Scott Greubel, Quincy, Sr.
Goalkeeper
Pat McNamee, Missouri S&T, So.