Celebrating the Heart Men's Soccer Players of the Week
This season, WinWon had the honor of presenting both the Soccer Players of the Week for the Heart of America Conference and the Heart Conference Tournament Championship. This season, the Heart saw immense success, with solid competition across the conference and multiple teams competing in the 2023 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship.
We would like to congratulate each athlete across the conference on their respective seasons and acknowledge each of the Players of the Week again for their awards. See below for the complete list of recognized athletes.
Season Highlights
The Missouri Valley College Vikings boasted a 9-2 regular season record, capturing the first seed for the Heart Conference Tournament Championship. The Vikings ultimately won the tournament in a match against MidAmerica Nazarene in Marshall, Mo. This marked the first conference championship for the Vikings since 2018.
Following conference championship play, William Penn, MidAmerica Nazarene and Missouri Valley advanced to Men’s Soccer National Championship tournament, where each team celebrated a victory. While both William Penn and Missouri Valley fell in the Round of 16, the MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers carried on. After a thrilling path through the tournament, the Pioneers ultimately won the National Championship. The victory marked their first NAIA National Title in program history.
The Heart of America Players of the Week for the 2023 Season are as follows:
Offensive Players of the Week:
- Jaren Obia, MF (Aug. 28)
- Emre Baris, F (Sept. 4)
- Jayce Berger, F (Sept. 11)
- Jony Munoz, F (Sept. 18)
- Gyorgy Kamaras, F (Sept. 25, Oct. 23)
- Alejandro Cuende, GK (Oct. 2)
- Jaime Rozalen, F (Oct. 2)
- Luigi Mongan, MF (Oct. 9)
- Kerim Akpinar, F (Oct. 16)
- Gyorgy Kamaras, F (Oct. 23)
- Wayde Roman, F (Oct. 30)
- Sam Green, F (Nov. 6)
Defensive Players of the Week:
- Michael Stoger, GK (Aug. 28)
- Andrew Porter, M (Sept. 4)
- Joshua Reddy, D (Sept. 11)
- Vicente Benitez Delgado, GK (Sept. 18, Oct. 9)
- Falco Dijkjuis, D (Sept. 25)
- Noah Reuscher, GK (Oct. 16, Oct. 23)
- Basil Erne, D (Oct. 30)
- Enzo Carvalho, GK (Nov. 6)
National Recognition for Heart Players, 2023 NAIA Men's Soccer All-America Teams:
- Jony Munoz (MNU), Kazuki Hashimoto (MV) and Sam Green (MV) were selected for First Team.
- Rick Hovinga (MNU) and Tate Richards (MV) were selected for Second Team.
- Yoshiki Igarashi (MV), Sean Bohan (WP), Gyorgy Kamaras (Baker), and Edan Sears (WP) were selected for Third Team.
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