Men's Soccer

MIAC announces 2024 Men’s Soccer Awards

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its annual men's soccer awards on Monday.
 
Conference coaches selected St. Olaf senior forward Shea Bechtel as the MIAC Offensive Player of the Year, while Gustavus senior defender Jared Hecht earned MIAC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Hamline first-year forward Ricky Kwabena Yawson was named MIAC Rookie of the Year. Bethel head coach Jeremy Iwaszkowiec was celebrated by his peers as the MIAC Coach of the Year.
 
Bechtel (Plainfield, Ill. | North) was named MIAC Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career after leading all players with nine goals and 22 points in conference play. Bechtel is the first player in recorded MIAC history to reach both 40 goals and 40 assists in a career and helped the Oles to a share of the program’s third regular season conference title in the last four years. Bechtel is the MIAC’s first two-time Offensive Player of the Year having previously won the award in 2022. Former St. Olaf teammate Victor Gaulmin received the honor last fall.
 
Hecht (Apple Valley, Minn. | Eastview) was named MIAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career after helping the Gusties to seven clean sheets in ten conference games. The Gusties held opponents to 74 shots and allowed just six goals in league play thanks in large part to Hecht’s play at center-back. Hecht was the inaugural recipient of the MIAC Defensive Player of the Year award in 2021 and is the only two-time recipient of the honor.
 
Kwabena Yawson (Rosemount, Minn.) scored five goals and assisted on two more in his debut season for the Pipers. He was also credited with game-winning goals in a pair of conference victories. He is the second consecutive Piper to be named MIAC Rookie of the Year, joining teammate and last year’s recipient Ryder Tomlinson Sterud.
 
Iwaszkowiec (14th season) was selected MIAC Coach of the Year for the first time in his career after leading the Royals to a 6-4-0 record in conference play to secure the first home playoff match in program history. Bethel won 11 games overall in 2024 for the program’s highest win total in two decades and scored 43 total goals, the most by a Royals team since 1999. Iwaszkowiec is the third Bethel men’s soccer coach to be celebrated with the conference honor, joining Mark Leigh (1981, 1999) and Joel Johnson (2004).
 
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.
 
Eight of the 22 All-Conference selections had been selected All-MIAC previously in their careers. Three players - Gustavus senior defender Jared Hecht, Macalester senior forward Hans Haenicke, and St. Olaf senior forward Shea Bechtel - became four-time All-Conference honorees, a feat achieved by just 18 men’s soccer players in recorded MIAC history. Gustavus senior midfielder Owen Johnson, Macalester junior defender Nick Kent, and Saint John’s senior goalkeeper Evan Siefken joined the list of 94 men’s soccer players to receive three All-Conference awards.
 
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. Augsburg junior forward Mizael Harris was a back-to-back All-Playoff Team honoree, while St. Olaf junior midfielder Robi Buzakovic received his third consecutive playoff honor.

| 2024 MIAC Men's Soccer Awards |