ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference announced its men's soccer postseason honors on Sunday, as voted on by the league's eight head coaches.
UIC's Edouard Nys earned the league's Player of the Year distinction while taking home Forward of the Year honors in his first season in The Valley. For the second-straight year, Drake's Eskil Gjerde was named the Midfielder of the Year.
The Evansville Purple Aces were recognized with four postseason specialty awards. Defensively, Michal Mroz was named the MVC Goalkeeper of the Year while Martin Wurschmidt was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year. Rookie Andres Escudero took home Freshman of the Year honors. Additionally, the Evansville coaching staff, led by head coach Robbe Tarver, was named the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year.
For the first time since joining The Valley, the Belmont Bruins were given the MVC Fair Play Award.
A total of 22 student-athletes from seven institutions landed a spot on either the first or second all-conference teams while six players were named to the MVC All-Freshman Team.
Player of the Year: Edouard Nys, UIC
Forward of the Year: Edouard Nys, UIC
Midfielder of the Year: Eskil Gjerde, Drake
Goalkeeper of the Year: Michal Mroz, Evansville
Defensive Player of the Year: Martin Wurschmidt, Evansville
Freshman of the Year: Andres Escudero, Evansville
Coaching Staff of the Year: Evansville (Robbe Tarver, Matt Melzer, Orry Killam, Evan Dekker)
MVC Fair Play Award: Belmont
Edouard Nys became the first UIC men's soccer player to earn a postseason specialty award since the Flames joined the league ahead of the 2022 campaign. His MVC Player of the Year distinction marks the first Conference Player of the Year nod by a Flame since 2019. Nys is the third player in Valley history to sweep Player and Forward of the Year honors in the same season, since the Forward of the Year award was introduced in 2020. Among the nation's best in goals, points and shots on goal per match, Nys has scored five of his 15 goals during Conference play, leading the MVC in the category. He also added a league-leading 10 points during Valley outings.
For the second-straight year, Drake's Eskil Gjerde was tabbed the MVC Midfielder of the Year. It's just the second time in league history, since the award's inception in 2020, that the specialty award has been won in back-to-back years by the same individual. Gjerde played a key role in helping the Bulldogs secure their first MVC regular-season championship in program history. With the help of Gjerde, Drake posted its best overall winning percentage during the regular season since 2015 with an 8-2-6 (.688) mark.
Michal Mroz is the first Evansville keeper to earn MVC Goalkeeper of the Year honors. The sophomore posted the league's best save percentage (.839) in MVC matches while tying a league-best four clean sheets. In a 1-0 win at Northern Illinois to help the Aces clinch a share of the regular-season title, Mroz registered a MVC single-match high 10 saves, becoming just the second keeper in the Conference to record double-figure stops in a contest this year.
Martin Wurschmidt is just the third Purple Ace to ever earn MVC Defensive Player of the Year honors and the first since Robby Lynch in 2010. Wurschmidt started all 18 matches during the regular season, playing all 1,620 possible minutes. The defender was a part of a backline that allowed just five goals during Conference play, which was tied for a league-low.
Andres Escudero is the ninth player in program history to be tabbed the MVC Freshman of the Year. It marks the fourth time in six seasons that the league's rookie of the year has hailed from Evansville. Escudero is the only freshman to land a spot on the All-MVC First Team. He tallied four of his team-leading nine goals in league play, while starting all seven MVC matches for the Aces. In mid-October, Escudero notched his third brace of the season in a 2-2 draw with UIC, becoming the first Evansville rookie with three braces in a season since 2022.
For the first time in program history, Evansville's coaching staff, led by head coach Robbe Tarver, was voted the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year by their peers. Tarver and his staff guided the Purple Aces to their first Conference regular-season championship since 1991 and first-ever as a member of The Valley. Four of this year's top five point getters for Evansville are newcomers to the squad after losing 30 of the team's 35 goals scored after 2024.
The Belmont Bruins were the recipient of the Valley's Fair Play Award, which is structured after the FIFA Fair Play honor. It is awarded to the Valley squad that has the fewest penalty cards during all MVC matches, as the Bruins tallied just 11 penalty cards in regular-season league action.
| FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE |
|
|
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown (Previous School) |
| GK |
Michal Mroz |
Evansville |
So. |
Elk Grove, Ill. (Elk Grove HS) |
| D |
Amara Kamara |
Northern Illinois |
Sr. |
Monrovia, Liberia (Tiffin) |
| D |
Cole Schrage |
Drake |
Jr. |
Urbandale, Iowa (Waukee Northwest HS) |
| D |
Dylan Steely |
Belmont |
R-Sr. |
Hoover, Ala. (Hoover HS) |
| D |
Martin Wurschmidt |
Evansville |
So. |
Stavern, Norway (Thor Heyerdahl VGS) |
| M |
Brad Dildy |
Belmont |
Sr. |
San Antonio, Texas (Charlotte) |
| M |
Eskil Gjerde |
Drake |
Sr. |
Egersund, Norway (Karakterutskrift) |
| M |
Jose Gomez |
Northern Illinois |
Sr. |
Roatan, Honduras (Clarke University) |
| F |
Andres Escudero |
Evansville |
Fr. |
San Sebastián de los Reyes, Spain (IES Joan Miro) |
| F |
Edouard Nys |
UIC |
Jr. |
Dottignies, Belgium (Northeast CC) |
| F |
Trace Terry |
Bowling Green |
Sr. |
Bellbrook, Ohio (Bellbrook HS) |
| SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE |
|
|
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown (Previous School) |
| GK |
Tomas Butkovic |
Drake |
So. |
Wollongong, Australia (Figree) |
| D |
Riley Clothier |
Belmont |
Sr. |
Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Oakland HS) |
| D |
Sam DeLong |
Drake |
So. |
Olathe, Kan. (Olathe West HS) |
| D |
Nacho Diaz-Caneja |
Evansville |
Sr. |
Coruña, Spain (Oregon State) |
| D |
Christian Shannon |
Western Michigan |
R-So. |
St. Joseph, Mich. (St. Joseph HS) |
| M |
Braxton Arpachinda |
Western Michigan |
Jr. |
Sterling Heights, Mich. (Olathe West HS) |
| M |
Jonathan Stout |
Western Michgian |
Sr. |
Grand Rapids, Mich. (Michigan State) |
| M |
Darrell Turcios |
UIC |
Jr. |
San Lorenzo, Honduras (Simon Kenton) |
| F |
Brock Kiper |
Belmont |
R-Jr. |
Mason, Ohio (Archbishop Moeller HS) |
| F |
Preston Kipnusu |
Drake |
So. |
West Des Moines, Iowa (Valley HS) |
| F |
Vance Sheffield |
Northern Illinois |
Fr. |
West Linn, Ore. (La Salle Catholic College Prep) |
| ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM |
|
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Hometown (Previous School) |
| M |
Nzuhri Biggar |
Belmont |
Spartanburg, S.C. (Oakbrook Preparatory School) |
| M |
Paul Claes Nielsen |
Belmont |
Copenhagen, Denmark (Rybners Gymnasium) |
| M |
Devin Shepherd |
Evansville |
Denver, Colo. (Arapahoe HS) |
| F |
Crew Alvarez |
Drake |
Louisburg, Kan. (Blue Valley Southwest) |
| F |
Andres Escudero |
Evansville |
San Sebastián de los Reyes, Spain (IES Joan Miro) |
| F |
Vance Sheffield |
Northern Illinois |
West Linn, Ore. (La Salle Catholic College Prep) |