– The National Soccer Coaches Association of America recognized three members of the Bryan College Men’s Soccer team who helped lead the Lions to an unbeaten conference record of 8-0-1, an overall record of 13-5-2, and the title of Regular Season Appalachian Athletic Conference Champions.
The AAC Men’s Soccer Freshman of the Year and Golden Boot recipient, Rafael Mentzingen, landed on the All-East Region First Team, while freshman Charlie Clarke and senior Joel Glover made the second team.
Bryan tied with Georgia Gwinnett and Thomas University (Ga.) for the second most honorees in the All-East Region.
Mentzingen proved to be an offensive threat early in the year for the Lions, registering three goals in the first three matches of the season.
He ended as one of the top scorers for the Lions, netting 13 goals with three of them being game winners. He finished No. 3 in the AAC in total goals. Along with AAC Men’s Soccer Freshman of the Year and Golden Boot honors, Mentzingen was named First Team All-Conference and captured AAC player of the week award once.
Fellow First Team All-Conference player, Clarke, finished the season as the team leader and AAC individual stats leader in total goals with 15, which ranks him 24th in Division I. He was the winner of the first AAC men’s soccer player of the week award this year, capturing the hat trick and compiling five goals in the season-opener against Hiwassee College (Tenn.) on Aug. 25th. He produced four game winning goals on the year, placing him in a tie for 2nd in the AAC for most game winners.
Also an All-AAC First Team selection, Glover battled an injury towards the end of the season but amassed eight goals and three assists as one of the captains on the Lions team. He began the season with one goal in each of the first five matches and then picked up the scoring streak again by finding the back of the net in three consecutive games, starting with Reinhardt University (Ga.), followed by Bluefield College (Va.), and ending with Georgia Gwinnett. Glover also earned All-Academic honors. He ends his fourth year as a Lion with 18 career goals, six assists, and season-high two game winning goals.
The team finished the year ranked 13th in Division I in shots per game (19.1), 30th in shots on goal per game (8.4), 34th in goals per game (2.5), and 36th in total goals (51).
The Lions were ranked 32nd in the 2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Postseason Poll.