Men's Soccer

Seven Men's Soccer Players Earn All-Region Honors

Seven Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer student-athletes have earned All-Region honors, the United Soccer Coaches organization announced this week. Evansville led the way with two honorees, while UIC's Edouard Nys garnered first-team honors.

BELMONT
Dylan Steely, Defender - All-West Region Second Team
Dylan Steely became the first Bruin to land a spot on the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team following another outstanding year anchoring Belmont's defense. The Bruins' 13 goals conceded this fall tied for the fifth-lowest in the nation, while Belmont's 0.765 goals against average was 19th-best in the country. After missing the first five matches of the season due to injury, Steely started the last 12 and assisted on goals in the Bruins' home victories over Bowling Green and MVC regular season champion Evansville. With Steely's assistance, Belmont shut out four opponents on the road and allowed multiple goals only twice. A native of Hoover, Alabama (Hoover HS), Steely was a Preseason All-MVC pick each of the last two seasons and was a member of the 2023 United Soccer Coaches All-West Region Third Team. A two-time All-MVC Second Team choice, Steely was named to both the 2022 MVC All-Freshman Team and All-Tournament Team as a redshirt freshman. Starting in all 62 matches he competed in the last four seasons, Steely completed his five-year collegiate career with 21 points (7 goals, 7 assists) and 5,330 minutes logged on the pitch. He finished his career ranked third on the Bruins' all-time minutes played list and tied for 10th on Belmont's all-time matches started list. Serving as a captain each of the last two seasons, Steely helped lead the Bruins to a program-record 13-match unbeaten streak spanning from late October of 2024 to Oct. 12, 2025. For the first time in school history, Belmont went undefeated through its first 11 matches of the season.

BOWLING GREEN
Trace Terry, Forward - All-West Region Second Team
Trace Terry earned all-region accolades from the United Soccer Coaches for the second-straight season. Terry, a native of Bellbrook, Ohio (Bellbrook), started all 17 of BGSU's matches in 2025, and led the team in goals and points. A team captain, he scored 10 of the Falcons' 16 goals this season en route to 22 points on the year. Terry also had a pair of assists, meaning that he was directly involved in the scoring of 75 percent of his team's goals this season. Not surprisingly, Terry was named to the 2025 All-Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer First Team, earning All-MVC recognition for the third consecutive season. Four of Terry's 10 goals were game-winning goals, a total that led the MVC and tied him for 15th in the nation. Terry also ranked among the top-50 players in the country in shots on goal per game (1.53, 19th), goals per game (0.59, 24th), total goals (28th), points per game (1.29, 35th), total shots per game (36th), shot accuracy (37th) and total points (50th). Terry had nine points, including four goals, in BGSU's seven MVC matches this season. He finished tied for second in the conference in goals and points in conference contests. In August, Terry was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List by United Soccer Coaches, becoming just the second player in school history to earn that honor. He was also named to that organization's 2025 Forwards to Watch list, and was also selected to the TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Best XI (All-America) Third Team. He has been named to the All-MVC Team in each of BGSU's three seasons in the conference, earning a pair of first-team selections after being named to the second team as a sophomore in 2023.

Terry was chosen by Seattle Sounders FC in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft last December, after being named an All-American by both United Soccer Coaches (Second Team) and TopDrawerSoccer (Third Team) in the 2024 season. He became just the fifth player in program history to return to the Falcons the next season after being named an All-American, and the first-ever player in BG history to return after being selected in the MLS draft. Terry ended his BGSU career with 69 points in 68 matches, scoring 28 goals and adding 13 assists. He is tied for seventh in school history in career goals, and ranks eighth on the BG list for career points. With a total of 11 game-winning goals in his BGSU career, Terry is tied for second on that list.

EVANSVILLE
Martin Wurschmidt, Defender - All-West Region Second Team
Martin Wurschmidt was named Evansville's third-ever MVC Defensive Player of the Year this season and the first since Robby Lynch in 2010, in addition to earning First Team All-Conference honors. Wurschmidt was a mainstay on the Evansville back line this season as the only Purple Aces field player to play all 1,800 minutes. As a unit, the Evansville defense limited conference opponents to a league-low .71 goals per game during regular season play, including four shutouts. Wurschmidt was also a threat on the offensive end of the pitch, going a perfect three-for-three from the penalty spot while adding an assist for a total of seven points.

Andres Escudero, Forward - All-West Region Second Team
Andres Escudero continued Evansville's legacy of standout freshman this season, scoring a team-leading 11 goals. He became the fourth Purple Ace to be named MVC Freshman of the Year since 2020 and the fifth in the last eight seasons, in addition to receiving First Team All-MVC and All-Freshman Team accolades. His goal total was good for second among all freshmen in the country, while he was one of two freshmen in the country with four braces this season. Escudero also earned MVC All-Tournament Team laurels after notching a brace in a 4-1 semifinal win over UIC. 

UIC
Edouard Nys, Forward - All-West Region First Team
Edouard Nys is the 15th UIC player to earn first-team all-region honors and the first since 2020, when Jacob Graiber garnered recognition on the All-North Region First Team (when the Flames were in that region while playing in the Horizon League). He is among seven Missouri Valley Conference players to earn all-region accolades this year, but the only Valley player named to the All-West Region First Team. The United Soccer Coaches All-America Teams will be announced Friday, with Nys contending to be the 14th All-American in program history (eighth since the program elevated to NCAA Division I in 1981) and first since Jesus Perez in 2019 (second team). A prime candidate for the Hermann Trophy as the nation's top player and All-America recognition, Nys was named the MVC Player and Forward of the Year last month, becoming the first UIC player to earn either honor since the Flames joined the Valley four years ago. He was also a first-team all-MVC choice after being a four-time MVC Offensive Player of the Week this season, tying the program record for weekly conference awards in a single season.
 
A native of Dottignies, Belgium, Nys ranks among the top six in the country in six different NCAA statistical categories, entering this weekend's NCAA College Cup. He leads the nation in shots per game (5.5) and shots on goal per game (2.72), while ranking second in goals per game (0.89), third in points per game (2.06) and total goals (16) and sixth in total points (37). Nys is one of only three players in program history to score 15 goals in one season and he amassed the most goals by a UIC player in more than a quarter century, since Lukin registered a school-record 21 goals and 56 points in 1999.

Northern Illinois
Jose Gomez, Midfielder - All-West Region Second Team
The senior midfielder started all 17 games for the Huskies in 2025, scoring three goals with six assists. In two different conference games this season, against Belmont (Oct. 17) and UIC (Oct. 25), Gomez recorded a goal and an assist. Gomez was named the Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 28 following a week in which he tallied a goal and two assists in victories over Notre Dame and UIC. A focal point of the NIU attack, Gomez helped the Huskies score 30 goals this past season, the program's highest output in four seasons. Last month, the Roatan, Honduras native was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team. Gomez becomes the first Huskie to earn All-Region honors since 2021 when Nick Markanich was named to the All-North Region First Team and Anthony Markanich collected All-North Region Second Team recognition. 

Western Michigan
Braxton Arpachinda, Midfielder - All-West Region Second Team
This year, junior defender Braxton Arpachinda the Broncos' lone selection on the All-West Second Team. The Missouri Valley Conference as a whole earned seven All-West selections, with Evansville being the only team to have two players named to the Second Team. MVC Player of the Year Edouard Nys was the conference's only First Team selection. Aprachinda ended the 2025 season as the leader on the pitch for WMU. The defender led the Brown and Gold with 12 points on the season as he scored four goals and assisted on four others. Arpachinda particularly shone during the postseason, being named the MVC Tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring a goal, assisting on another, and making the winning penalty kick for Western Michigan in its MVC semifinal matchup against Drake. Arpachinda was one of only two Broncos who started in every match he appeared in, playing a total of 1,793 minutes. Other awards the junior picked up during the 2025 season include being named to the All-MVC Second Team and the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team.