INDIANAPOLIS – University of Southern Indiana junior midfielder Sean Rickey and head coach Mat Santoro, along with Bellarmine University sophomore defender Jonas Skulstad, University of Indianapolis freshman forward Alejandro Steinwascher and Quincy University freshman forward Kingsford Adjei have all garnered major postseason honors for the 2018 Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Soccer season, it was announced by the league office Thursday evening. Rickey was voted by the league coaches as GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, while his head coach was named Coach of the Year. The Knights’ Skulstad was picked as the Defensive Player of the Year, and the Greyhounds’ Steinwascher and Hawks’ Adjei shared Freshman of the Year honors. A total of 33 standouts were named to the 2018 All-Conference Teams, as voted on by the league coaches, while 14 were chosen as GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship nominees for the sport with Bellarmine selected as the team sportsmanship winner. The annual awards were presented Thursday at a reception on the eve of the GLVC Championship Tournament.

Rickey becomes USI’s first standout recognized as the best offensive player in the league, while he is the sixth major honoree chosen behind Players of the Year Shane Gibson (1990) and Greg Henry (2002) along with Freshmen of the Year Robbie Haigh (2000), Kyle Penick (2002) and teammate Eric Ramirez (2016). The midfielder played 11 of 13 league games, tallying eight goals and four assists for 20 points to average 1.82 points per game. For the season, Rickey leads the league in points per game (1.80) and ranks second in points (27). His eight goals in GLVC games are third best while his 11 for the season and 0.73 per game are both second in the loop. Additionally, five of his eight goals were game-winners, which puts him atop the GLVC. On October 1, the junior was named GLVC Offensive Player of the Week, and for his season-long efforts, he was named a unanimous First Team All-GLVC pick.

Skulstad is the first Knight to be chosen as the top defensive player in the GLVC while just the third to win a top honor, as teammate Eddie Williamson was last year’s co-Freshman of the Year and Tito Iglesias was named the best freshman in 1995. The sophomore was an integral part of Bellarmine’s backline, which limited opponents to 20 goals in 17 matches – fifth lowest in the league – and a .396 shots on goal percentage. He has also helped the squad to a GLVC-best, seven-game winning streak with four shutouts in that span. Skulstad was the Defensive Player of the Week Oct. 15 and earns a spot on the All-GLVC First Team.

This marks the fourth time a USI skipper has been selected by his peers as Coach of the Year, as Santoro’s predecessor, Tony Colavecchia, was a three-time choice from 1988-90. The Screaming Eagles’ 10th-year mentor, however, wins his first career postseason accolade after guiding his squad to a 13-2-1 regular season overall record and 11-1-1 mark in Conference contests this season. This is USI’s first Regular Season league title since the GLVC began recognizing regular season champions in 2010 but suffered a disappointing loss in the 2018 GLVC quarterfinals. His squad was also ranked as high at 11th in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and first in the NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, which should help USI as it awaits NCAA seeding next week. With Santoro at the helm, Rickey was named Offensive Player of the Year and unanimous first-team, while Eric Ramirez also picked up first-team distinction and goalkeeper Justin Faas found a spot on the third team, and all three of them were named weekly honorees during the season.

For the fourth time in GLVC history and second consecutive season, two newcomers were tabbed as the best freshmen in the league. The first time was in 2000, then again in 2002 and 2017. Steinwascher scored five goals for UIndy in GLVC-only games and registered two assists for 12 points. In all 18 games played, he ranks in the top-10 for shots (37, 10th), points (21, fourth), points per game (1.17, fifth), goals (eight, t-fifth), goals per game (0.44, seventh), assists (five, t-seventh), and game-winning goals (three, t-third). Adjei had 13 points on six goals and one assist in 12 Conference contests, tallying 20 points on nine goals and two assists for all 18 games played. The forward’s mark for shots (51, third), shots per game (2.83, fourth), points (20, t-fifth), points per game (1.11, seventh), goals (nine, fourth), goals per game (0.50, t-fourth) and game-winning goals (4, second) all rank among the 10 best marks in the league. On Oct. 15, Adjei was named Offensive Player of the Week, while both he and Steinwascher were picked as All-GLVC second-team honorees.

Indianapolis earned a league-best eight honorees of the 33 All-Conference selections, while Maryville boasted six. Rockhurst followed with four, while Bellarmine, Illinois Springfield and USI had three apiece. Quincy and McKendree registered two, while Drury and Lewis round out the lists with one winner each.
Joining Rickey, Skulstad, and Ramirez on the First Team was the only other unanimous selection, Bellarmine junior forward Tomas Bernedo, as well as Knights’ sophomore midfielder Micah Linscott. Also picking up first-team distinction was UIS senior defender Rhys Wallace, UIndy senior defender Josh Mahon and junior forward Javier Steinwascher, Maryville junior forward Helmut Florencia and senior goalkeeper Christian Kjaersgaard, and Quincy redshirt-junior midfielder Aubrey Reis.

The league also recognized 14 GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees and one Team award winner: Bellarmine. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.
 
A complete list of the three All-Conference Teams and major postseason award winners follows below.


2018 ALL-GLVC MEN’S SOCCER POSTSEASON AWARDS
 
2018 GLVC Offensive Player of the Year
Sean Rickey, Jr., MF, USI
 
2018 GLVC Defensive Player of the Year
Jonas Skulstad, So., D, BU
 
2018 GLVC co-Freshmen of the Year
Alejandro Steinwascher, F, UINDY
Kingsford Adjei, F, QU
 
2018 GLVC Coach of the Year
Mat Santoro, USI