PEORIA, Ill. – Six members of the Bradley Soccer team were honored with Missouri Valley Conference awards during the annual tournament reception Thursday night at WeaverRidge Golf Course.
Senior forward Jochen Graf (Double Oak, Texas/Faustina Academy) and senior sweeper Tapiwa Machingauta (Marondera, Zimbabwe) both landed on the 11-player All-MVC first team, marking the 15th consecutive year the Braves have produced at least one first-team all-conference player.
Junior midfielder Keegan Balle (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley H.S.) and junior goalkeeper Brian Billings (Apple Valley, Minn./Shattuck-St. Mary's) both garnered second-team All-MVC notice, while defender Grant Bell (Little Falls, Minn./Little Falls H.S.) and forward Jason Lesch (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills H.S.) both were named to the 11-player Valley All-Freshmen Team.
An honorable mention All-MVC pick as a junior in 2011, Graf shared Bradley's goal-scoring lead with seven goals this season, despite missing seven games due to injury. Balle also scored seven goals and added four assists for a team-best 18 points. With 33 points on 12 goals and nine assists, Balle inherits the title of Bradley's “active career scoring leader” from Graf heading into the 2013 season.
Machingauta was the only Brave to start all 20 games this season, anchoring Bradley's defense from his sweeper position while playing 1845 of the season's 1892 total minutes. He also added two assists from his defensive spot.
Billings is a repeat pick as the league's second-team All-MVC goalkeeper. He started 19 of Bradley's 20 games in 2012, finishing the year with 4.0 shutouts and a 1.15 goals against average.
Bell and Lesch were among the seven Braves, and the only newcomers, to play in all 20 games this season. Bell started 15 times in Bradley's back line, while Lesch started 14 times and finished the season with six points on two goals and two assists. Both of his goals were game-winners, Sept. 29 versus Northern Kentucky (1-0) and Oct. 13 against Evansville (2-0).
The six Braves honored Thursday night helped Bradley to a 10-6-4 final record, the third consecutive year that Bradley has won at least 10 games, and a tie for third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 3-2-1 league record.
Creighton senior midfielder Jose Gomez was voted the Valley's Player of the Year, while fellow Bluejay Andrew Ribiero was named Defensive Player of the Year. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville claimed the other two specialty awards: netminder John Berner was named Goalkeeper of the Year and the Cougar coaches, lead by head coach Kevin Kalish, were voted the Coaching Staff of the Year.
The Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship will continue with semifinal action Friday at Shea Stadium. Fifth-seeded Drake will take on regular-season champion Creighton at 3 o'clock, followed by the 6 p.m. semifinal between sixth-seeded Central Arkansas and regular-season runner-up SIUE. The championship game will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday at Shea Stadium.
