KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Five Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s soccer student-athletes have been elected to the United Soccer Coaches Division III All-American Team. Full Release
Trinity University’s Brady Johnston, Michael Meese, Jacob Galan and Fraser Burns, along with Southwestern’s Jack Viles, were among the 50 athletes selected.
This marks the third time in SCAC history that five or more athletes have earned USC All-American honors and the first time since 2016 when the league set a record with eight AA certificates. The other previous time the league hit five honorees was in 2008. Additionally, Viles, Johnston and Meese all collected First-Team honors which is the second most in a single season, only behind the 2016 season when the league had four First-Team honorees.
Viles, a junior goalkeeper and First-Team All-SCAC honoree, is the first All-American in SU program history. Viles posted the fourth-most shutouts in the country with 10, setting a Southwestern men's soccer record for most clean sheets in a single season. He finished the season with a 9-3-3 record, totaling 42 saves for a .778 save percentage and a .710 goals-against average. For his career, Viles is 15-5-6 with 15 shutouts, and a goals-against-average of .069 with 80 saves and a .784 saves percentage.
Trinity’s Meese finished the year with an SCAC best 16 goals and 36 points on his way to being named First-Team All-SCAC. In the semifinal round of the SCAC Tournament, the first-year rang home four goals to lead the Tigers in a come from behind 6-2 victory over Colorado College to send Trinty into the conference title fixture. This is the first All-American honor in Meese’s career.
Rounding out the SCAC First-Team selections is Trinity’s Johnston, marking the second time in the senior’s career he has earned this prestigious honor. The 2018 SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year and two-time First-Team All-SCAC honoree, Johnston added one goal and one assist for three total points this year.
Trinity’s Galan earned Second-Team honors, with this being the second time in his career that he has been named an All-American. Galan, the 2020-21 SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year and three-time First-Team All-SCAC honoree, chipped in offensively this season with one goal and two assists for four total points.
Johnston and Galan anchored a Trinity defense that allowed just 18 goals all season and posted a 0.92 goals-against-average this year.
Finally, Trinity’s Burns was named to the Third-Team for the first time in his career. The senior midfielder finished tied for the SCAC lead with 10 assists this year and added five goals for a total of 20 points this season.
All four players played a big part in the success of the Tigers. Through their efforts, Trinity finished the season with an overall record of 16-1-2 and were ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches organization.
The five SCAC selections mark the, 98th, 99th, 100th, 101st and 102nd induvial All-American accolades in SCAC men’s soccer history and each individual was tabbed for the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region First-Team earlier in the week.
Viles, Johnston, Meese, Galan and Burns will be formally acknowledged for their accomplishments at the United Soccer Coaches All-America Ceremony & Reception on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022, at the Kansas City Convention Center in conjunction with the United Soccer Coaches Convention.
