KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The United Soccer Coaches (USC) released the 2019 Scholar All-America and Scholar All-Region Teams this week, and three Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference student-athletes earned recognition.
Colorado College's John Schuler headlined the SCAC contingent, earning both USC Third Team Scholar All-America and First Team All-West Region honors. His teammates, Sam Bermingham and Samson Heyer, joined Schuler on the Scholar All-West Region squad.
Schuler, a Physics major who owns a 3.70 grade-point average, received the honor for the first time and became the eighth Tiger to earn the organization's most prestigious award.
The Chicago native joins Patrick McGinnis (2004), Brandon Ogilvie (2013), Max Grossenbacher (2015), Soren Frykholm (2016), Jack McCormick (2016), Keenan Amer (2017), Joel Frykholm (2017) and Theo Hooker (2016, 2017) on CC's list of recipients.
A First-Team all-SCAC selection, Schuler was one of four players to start all 18 games and led the team with 1,291 minutes. As a holding midfielder, the junior co-captain helped organize Colorado College's defensive effort that led the SCAC with a 0.56 goals-against average, five shutouts and just five goals conceded in conference games. In the offensive third, Schuler set career highs with three goals, two assists and eight points. He struck for the game-winning goal in the 3-0 victory over No. 8 Luther College and his second-half penalty kick ignited CC's comeback in the 2-1 victory over Trinity University.
Joining Schuler on the Scholar all-West Region squad are senior midfielder Sam Bermingham and junior midfielder Samson Heyer.
Bermingham, who owns a 3.4 GPA in Economics, led the Tigers with 25 points and nine assists, and was second with eight goals, all of which were career highs. His assist and point totals are the most for Colorado College since Grossenbacher recorded nine assists and 27 points in 2015. The second-team all-conference selection recorded three assists in the 5-4 win over Centenary College on Sept. 13, and he capped the regular season with his first career hat trick in the 6-0 victory over Johnson & Wales University in his final home appearance.
Heyer, a political science/history major with a 3.64 GPA, was a factor at both ends of the pitch. An honorable-mention all-conference selection, Heyer set career highs with seven points and three assists, and matched his personal best of two goals. He set up the only goal during the victories against Southwestern University on Oct. 11 at Stewart Field and at Austin College a week later. Heyer ranked fifth on the team with 1,385 minutes and his efforts in the midfield helped CC lead the conference with eight overall shutouts.
The Scholar All-Americans will be honored at the All-America Luncheon on Saturday, Jan. 18, at the 2020 United Soccer Coaches Convention in Baltimore.
To be eligible for Scholar All-Region or All-America recognition, student-athletes must meet the following criteria:
- 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) or better throughout career
- Started more than 50 percent of all games and significantly contribute to their team
- Nominated by head coach of current College Services member institution
- Junior or above in academic standing; and, if a transfer student, in second year at school.
To view the entire United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America team, click here.
To view the entire United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-West Region team, click here.
