Men's Soccer

MIAC announces 2023 Men’s Soccer Awards

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its annual men's soccer awards on Tuesday.
 
St. Olaf senior midfielder Victor Gaulmin was selected by conference coaches as the MIAC Offensive Player of the Year, while Carleton senior defender Justin Crawmer earned MIAC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Hamline first-year forward Ryder Tomlinson Sterud was named MIAC Rookie of the Year. Carleton head coach Bob Carlson was celebrated by his peers as the MIAC Coach of the Year.
 
Gaulmin (Brest, Finistere, France | University of Western Brittany) was named MIAC Offensive Player of the Year after recording five goals and six assists in league play for the MIAC champion Oles. He finished the regular season ranked second in the conference in points (16) and game-winning goals (2), and third in goals (5) and assists (6). Gaulmin – the lone player in MIAC men's soccer history to receive the since-retired Midfielder of the Year award (2021) – is the second consecutive Ole to be named MIAC Offensive Player of the Year, joining teammate and 2022 recipient Shea Bechtel.
 
Crawmer (Urbandale, Iowa | Waukee) was named MIAC Defensive Player of the Year after leading a Carleton backline that conceded a conference-low two goals during the regular season. Crawmer also scored three goals and provided two assists from his defender position. He is the first Carleton player ever to be named MIAC Defensive Player of the Year in men's soccer, and the first Knight to receive any individual men's soccer postseason award since Mark Roth was named MIAC Player of the Year in 2018.
 
Tomlinson Sterud (Plymouth, Minn. | Robbinsdale Armstrong) scored three goals and assisted on another in his debut season for the Pipers. He finished among the top 15 among all conference scorers in shots (24), shots on goal (12), goals (3), and game-winning goals (1). He is the first Piper in program history to be named MIAC Rookie of the Year and the first Hamline men's soccer player to earn any individual postseason award since Jacob Helling won Player of the Year honors in 2006.
 
Carlson (26th season) was selected MIAC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career after leading the Knights to an 8-1-1 record in regular season conference play and a 16th straight appearance in the MIAC Playoffs. Carlson was previously awarded MIAC Coach of the Year honors in 2007, 2008, 2012, and 2018.
 
In addition to the individual awards, 22 players were named All-Conference and seven received honorable mention distinctions. All-Conference and individual awards were nominated by and voted on by the eleven MIAC head men's soccer coaches; any nominated player not selected as All-Conference but still receiving votes from at least three coaches was named honorable mention.
 
Sixteen of the 22 All-Conference selections had been selected All-MIAC previously in their careers. Seven players - Gustavus senior goalkeeper Wesley Sanders and defenders Otis Anderson and Jared Hecht, Macalester junior forward Hans Haenicke, and St. Olaf junior forward Shea Bechtel and senior midfielders Victor Gaulmin and Casey McCloskey – each received their third All-MIAC distinction, a feat achieved by 84 men's soccer players in recorded MIAC history.
 
The MIAC also announced the All-Playoff Team for men's soccer, which recognized the top eleven performers from the conference tournament, as selected by playoff-participant head coaches.

| 2023 MIAC Men's Soccer Awards |