Texas Lutheran's Green, St. Thomas' Bencomo Headline 2021 All-SCAC Men's Soccer Team

Texas Lutheran's Green, St. Thomas' Bencomo Headline 2021 All-SCAC Men's Soccer Team

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – In exclusive voting by the league’s head soccer coaches, Luis Green of Texas Lutheran University was selected 2021 SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year for a record fourth consecutive year while University of St. Thomas’ Luis Bencomo was tabbed as SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year. Complete Release

In that same balloting, University of St. Thomas’ Daniel Castro earned Newcomer-of-the-Year honors while his coach, Ian Clerihew, was named SCAC Coach-of-the-Year.

A senior forward from Monterrey, Mexico, Luis Green led the league in game-winning goals (5) and finished second in points (31), goals (13), points-per-game (2.21), goals-per-game (0.93), shots (63) and shots on goal (34). He was tied for seventh with five assists. Green was also second in scoring in conference-only competition with seven goals and 17 points in eight SCAC contests. Assuming he retains his current positioning, he would become the only men’s player in league history to finish ranked first or second in the conference in goals, goals per game, points, and points per game for four consecutive seasons. Green has also made his way up the league’s all-time scoring charts as his 62 career goals rank fourth all-time – and is tied for the TLU program record. In addition, his 138 points scored are tied for fifth on the SCAC career list, and his 1.00 goals per game average ties with Will Lukow of Oglethorpe (1991-94) as the highest in league history. His 2.23 points-per-game ranks second all-time. A four-time recipient of the award, Green remains TLU’s sole recipient of the league’s highest offensive honor.

Green received five votes in the balloting for Offensive Player-of-the-Year honors, followed by first-year forward Daniel Castro of St. Thomas and senior forward Kiran Singh of Colorado College, who each received two first-place votes.

A senior defender and team captain from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, St. Thomas’ Luis Bencomo anchored a Celt defensive squad that surrendered the fewest goals in league play, allowing just five goals in eight conference games with a goals-against-average of 0.57. St. Thomas finished second in both goals allowed (14) and goals-against-average (0.72) as well as shutout (nine) for the entirety of the 2021 season. Bencomo also pitched in offensively for the Celts, scoring three goals and assisting on six others (sixth in the SCAC in assists) for 12 points, with two of his goals and half of his assists coming during conference competition. He assisted on the game-winner in St. Thomas’ 1-0 victory over Trinity in the championship game of last weekend’s conference tournament. In just the program’s third year in the conference, Bencomo is the second St. Thomas player to earn Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors, following former teammate Carlos Marquez who earned the honor following the 2019 season.

Bencomo received four first-place votes in the Defensive Player-of-the-Year selection process, narrowly out-balloting sophomore goalkeeper Jack Viles of Southwestern, who received three votes. Senior defender Brady Johnston of Trinity, who won the honor in 2018, picked up the remaining two first-place votes.

Daniel Castro, a first year forward from Houston, Texas, led St. Thomas and is currently ranked third in the conference in both goals scored (12) and points (28) and is fourth in shots (50). Once conference play kicked in, no one produced more than Castro as he led the league in goals scored (eight) and points (18), which included game-winners against Colorado College (Oct. 24) and Austin College (Oct. 31). He assisted on the game-winner in Friday night’s 1-0 win over Southwestern – the Celts’ only shot on goal the entire contest – a victory that propelled UST into the conference championship match where they defeated Trinity by the same 1-0 score. Castro is the second consecutive St. Thomas player to earn Newcomer-of-the-Year honors, following teammate Ian Alvarez who picked up the accolade following the league’s shortened 2020-21 season which concluded earlier this calendar year.

Castro received five votes in Newcomer-of-the-Year voting while first-year midfielder Joseph Kuri of Trinity finished with two votes and first-year midfielder Brennan Amato of Centenary College and first-year forward Vincent Luglio of Colorado College each received one first-place vote.

In his fifth season at the helm at St. Thomas program, Ian Clerihew led the Celts to the program’s first-ever SCAC Tournament title, culminating with a 1-0 victory over top-seeded Trinity in the championship match. It marked the second consecutive year the Celts made it to the tournament final as Clerihew’s squad fell just short in PKs to the host institution Centenary during the COVID-shortened spring season. In three seasons in the SCAC, St. Thomas has produced a cumulative 16-4-4 conference mark and the Celts are 44-25-13 overall since Clerihew arrived on campus five seasons ago. The SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honor is the first for Clerihew and just the second COTY honor for a St. Thomas coach since the institution joined the SCAC prior to the 2019-20 academic year. Head men’s basketball coach Anthony Medina was selected co-Coach of the Year following the 2020-21 season.

To view the entire 2021 All-SCAC Men's Soccer Team, click here.

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