GLIAC –- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) has announced the men's soccer postseason awards for 2024, as voted on by the league's coaches.
St. Cloud State forward Philip Caputo was honored as the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Year. In what was a historic season for Philip Caputo, he was an offensive juggernaut for St. Cloud State. Leading the conference in points, goals, and shots on goal, very few could contain Caputo in a year where he recorded 32 points stemming from 13 goals and six assists. His desire to win was evident in his play late in games as he scored five game-winning goals, the most in the conference. Caputo’s scoring came in bunches as he had three multi-goal games including two hat tricks on the year. He was also named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week three times, the most of any player in the conference. On a national level, Caputo finished the regular season sixth in points and goals while finishing tied for second in game-winning goals.
Roosevelt graduate student Nick Kilian is the 2024 GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year. Kilian had a strong season for the Roosevelt defense, helping the Lakers win a share of the GLIAC regular season crown and earn the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. In addition to his defensive prowess that helped Roosevelt keep five clean sheets in 12 conference matches, Kilian also led the league with nine assists. Among those nine helpers was his cross to fellow first-team All-GLIAC honoree Oskar Schuster on the final matchday to lift Roosevelt to the 1-0 win over Saginaw Valley State to secure a share of the conference title. Kilian's lone goal of the season was an 85th-minute winner against Purdue Northwest on the road.
Parkside redshirt junior Daniyal Rana has earned GLIAC Goalkeeper of the Year honors for the 2024 season. Rana started all 15 matches he appeared in while collecting a season total of 60 saves and posting a .769 save percentage. His 60 saves this season ranked him second in the GLIAC for the year, while his five clean sheets were good enough for third in the conference. The Waukesha set career highs in saves, shutouts, and single game saves at seven.
GLIAC Freshman of the Year was awarded to Davenport midfielder Easton Lopez. Lopez is the first Panther to receive the award in the program's NCAA history. Lopez immediately stepped into a leadership role for DU’s offense in his first collegiate season, tallying four goals and two game-winners against non-conference opponents, including the game-winner against No. 11 Tiffin University. The win over the Dragons was the highest nationally-ranked team the program has defeated in its NCAA history. Lopez logged a career-high for goals in a single game with two scored against Northwood on Sept. 12. Since entering league action, the freshman midfielder received Honorable Mention Offensive Player of the Week honors in Week 2. Through Nov. 13, Lopez’s season totals are six goals and two assists, as he marked his third career game-winner in the victory over No. 13 St. Cloud State. Overall, Lopez has started and played in all 19 contests for just shy of 1,600 minutes played this season.
Sean Holmes of St. Cloud State was selected as GLIAC Coach of the Year. Entering his fifth season with St. Cloud State, Head Coach Sean Holmes and the Huskies had a breakout year with their best season in program history. St. Cloud State tripled their win total from 2023 as they went from three wins to nine and finished with an overall record of 9-8-1 to finish third in the GLIAC. Highlighted by a seven-game winning streak, the Huskies earned their first ever national ranking on October 8th as they were ranked No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. Under Holmes’ guidance, St. Cloud State was an offensive machine this season as they led the conference in total points (113), goals (32), and assists (49). The Huskies also produced the most Player of the Week honorees in the conference with seven. SCSU reached the postseason for the third consecutive season and hosted their second straight home playoff game.
A complete list of the 2024 All-GLIAC men's soccer teams is below:
2024 First Team All-GLIAC
Philip Caputo, Forward, St. Cloud State
Oskar Schuster, Forward, Roosevelt
Jonny Money, Forward, Saginaw Valley State
Anthony Waller, Midfielder, Saginaw Valley State
Easton Lopez, Midfielder, Davenport
Matteo Quintero, Midfielder, Parkside
Alessandro Scialanga, Defender, Northern Michigan
Gabriel Koenig, Defender, Roosevelt
Nick Kilian, Defender, Roosevelt
Jayden Cameron, At-Large, Saginaw Valley State
Daniyal Rana, Goalkeeper, Parkside
2024 Second Team All-GLIAC
Tommaso Lami, Forward, Northern Michigan
Christian Booth, Forward, Purdue Northwest
Mzo Mthembu, Forward, Saginaw Valley State
Luca Swinton, Midfielder, Roosevelt
Miguel Rodriguez De la Garza, Midfielder, Purdue Northwest
Noah Vasilev, Midfielder, Roosevelt
Martin Murillo, Defender, Purdue Northwest
Noah Eklund, Defender, St. Cloud State
Mario Bolado, Defender, Parkside
Nolan Pratumwon, At-Large. St. Cloud State
Nick Kay, Goalkeeper, Saginaw Valley State
2024 Honorable Mention All-GLIAC
George Deveau, Davenport
Quint Van Roij, Northern Michigan
Luis Flores, Parkside
Jacob Battista, Purdue Northwest
Valdemar Nambo, Roosevelt
Oleksiy Kharko, Saginaw Valley State
Andrew Holmes, St. Cloud State
