KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Eleven Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer student-athletes earned recognition with the release of the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region team on Wednesday.
Trinity placed four players on the First Team while Colorado College had two Second Team honorees and one player recognized as Third Team All-Region. Austin College placed two players on the Second Team and the University of Dallas had a representiatve on both the Second and Third Teams.
For Trinity, seniors Guy Harris and Cooper Fyfe were joined by juniors Austin Michaelis and Christian Sakshaug on the First Team after leading the Tigers to a 21-2-0 record this season.
Sakshaug is now a three-time All-Region selection, while Michaelis is on the West Region squad for the second consecutive year. Michaelis was also a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (renamed United Soccer Coaches in 2017) First Team All-American last year, while Sakshaug is a two-time NSCAA All-America honoree.
Harris and Fyfe led a Trinity defense that posted 12 shutout victories over the season, allowing just 17 goals in 23 games played. Harris was the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-SCAC selection this season. Fyfe earned All-SCAC honors for the first time in his career, making the conference's Second Team.
Michaelis led Trinity with 15 goals scored and five game-winners this season and was First Team All-SCAC for the second straight year. He was the 2016 Offensive Player of the Year in the league.
Sakshaug was this season's SCAC Offensive Player of the Year, leading the Tigers with nine assists to go with his 10 goals scored.
Colorado College's Theo Hooker earned Second Team recognition at goalkeeper after earning First Team All-Region and All-American honors a year ago. A senior, Hooker was named co-Defensive Player of the Year by the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after posting an 11-4-4 overall record and a 9-2-3 mark in conference play. Hooker led the SCAC with an .841 saves percentage and tied for first with nine clean sheets and a 0.65 GAA. He holds the program goalkeeping records with 35 shutouts and 51 career victories. He also is second with a 0.63 goals-against average and fifth with 215 saves.
Joining Hooker on the Second Team was fellow senior and teammate Joel Frykholm, last season's SCAC Newcomer of the Year, who led the Tigers with seven goals and 16 points, both of which were personal single-season highs. He scored a pair of game-winning goals, and set up the deciding score in the 2-1 victory at the University of Dallas.
Junior defender Keenan Amer was the third CC player named to the unit and received Third Team recognition. Amer ranked second on the team with 1,865 minutes, was a key contributor at both ends of the field. He was a fixture on the Colorado College defense that ranked second in the conference with 10 shutouts.
Junior midfielder Phillip Le and senior forward Thomas Quick both picked up Second Team All-Region nods from the United Soccer Coaches.
Le, a junior midfielder from Frisco, was a first team All-SCAC selection after scoring seven goals and adding two assists on the year. Le was also among the conference leaders in both shots and shots on goal during the season. This is the second straight year he's earned All-Region honors as he was a Third Team selection in 2016.
Quick was a first team All-SCAC pick and the runner-up for the conference's Offensive Player of the Year Award by just one vote after scoring 11 goals and adding five assists this season. His 11 goals were the second most in the conference, and he finished the year third in total points.
The University of Dallas also placed two players on the squad with junior defender Eric Haigh and freshman forward Nat Kajiwara earning Second and Third Team honors, respectively.
Haigh was the anchor on the back line for the Crusaders as the junior started all 19 matches and was part of seven shutouts by the squad. Even more impressive for Haigh was his role in moving the ball, as his signature flip-throw was among a couple set pieces to lead to a couple UD goals. He scored his first career goal on a penalty kick (PK) and finished with four assists – including the team's first scoring play in the conference semifinals.
Kajiwara shined his freshman season with the Crusaders as he led all first-year players with 10 goals (tied for third overall in the SCAC) and points with 23 (fifth overall in the SCAC). He had three game-winners during the season and earned All-Tournament honors as Dallas made its first-ever appearance in a SCAC soccer tournament final.
To view the full list of honorees, visit the United Soccer Coaches website here.
