Texas Lutheran's Green; Trinity's Johnston Headline 2018 All-SCAC Men's Soccer Voting

Texas Lutheran's Green; Trinity's Johnston Headline 2018 All-SCAC Men's Soccer Voting

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – In exclusive voting by the league’s head soccer coaches, Luis Green of Texas Lutheran University was selected 2018 SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year, while Trinity’s Brady Johnston was tabbed as SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year. Complete Release

In that same balloting, TLU’s Green also earned Newcomer-of-the-Year honors while his head coach, Eddie Salazar, was named SCAC Coach-of-the-Year.

A freshman forward from Monterrey, Mexico, Luis Green made an immediate impact in his rookie season in Seguin, leading the league during the regular season in goals scored (16), points (33), shots (81) and game-winning goals (6). His 16 goals scored already stands as the third-highest total by a first-year player in SCAC history, and if he holds his lead as the league’s leading goal scorer, he would become the sixth freshman to lead the league in goals scored. In addition, the 16 goals represent the fourth-highest single-season total in TLU history and the most in the DIII era. He earned SCAC Offensive POTW honors in Week 2 when he posted a hat trick at Centenary on Sept. 7. Green’s selection as SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year represents the first time a freshman has won the award in the 16-year history of the award. He also is the first TLU student-athlete to take home top offensive honors since the Bulldogs joined the SCAC prior to the 2014 season.

Green received four votes in the balloting for Offensive Player-of-the-Year honors while senior forward Austin Michaelis of Trinity – who won the award in 2016 – followed closely with three first-place votes. Senior midfielder Phillip Le of Austin College and senior forward Jake Swonke of Southwestern University split the remaining two first-place votes.

Also, the league’s Newcomer-of-the-Year, Green becomes the first player in league history to win both Offensive and Newcomer-of-the-Year honors in the same season. He is TLU’s second recipient of the award, joining current teammate Eduardo Lopez-Rivera who took home a share of NOTY honors in 2016.

Green received eight of the coaches’ votes in the balloting for Newcomer-of-the-Year with Trinity’s Jacob Galan picking up the remaining first-place vote.

Brady Johnston, a junior defender from Northampton, England, spearheaded a Trinity defensive effort that led the SCAC during the regular season in goals against average (0.74) and fewest goals allowed (13) while finishing tied for second in shutouts (8). The Tigers also allowed the fewest goals during regular season conference play (9) – the sixth consecutive year Trinity has led the SCAC in that category. Johnston was the linchpin of the Tigers' back line, controlling the air both while defending and on attacking set pieces. In addition to his defensive prowess, the junior also chipped in with seven goals (third in the SCAC) and three assists to finish the regular season with 17 points (sixth in the SCAC). Johnston is the fourth consecutive Trinity player to earn Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors and the eighth overall.

Johnston received four votes in the Defensive Player-of-the-Year voting while senior goalkeeper Joseph Khalaf of Austin College was the next closest in the balloting with two votes. First-year defender Kyle Hernandez of Johnson & Wales University, senior midfielder Alex Newell of Southwestern and senior defender Henry Schuler of Colorado College each received one first-place vote.

In his 13th season at the helm at Texas Lutheran University, Salazar led the Bulldogs to the program’s best mark since joining the SCAC prior to the 2013 season as the team produced a 9-6-0 conference record for a fourth-place regular season finish and a 10-7-0 overall mark – a four game improvement from last season. The program’s previous high for conference wins (SCAC era) was seven and a victory in the conference quarterfinals would equal the Bulldogs’ season high of 11 overall wins set in 2013. His 39 career conference wins places him 12th all-time in league history. Salazar became TLU’s all-time winningest men’s soccer coach with a 2-1 win at Schreiner in 2017 and he is just nine wins short of the century mark headed into this weekend’s conference tournament. The SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honor is the first for Salazar.

To view the entire 2018 All-SCAC Men's Soccer Team, click here.

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