OREM, Utah - The Western Athletic Conference has announced its All-WAC men's soccer teams and major awards as selected by the league's 11 head coaches. Grand Canyon's Niki Jackson was named WAC Offensive Player of the Year while Seattle U's Kyle Bjornethun repeated as WAC Defensive Player of the Year. UNLV midfielder Timo Mehlich was named WAC Freshman of the Year and Utah Valley head coach Greg Maas was named WAC Coach of the Year.
Jackson, a junior forward from Phoenix, Ariz., led the WAC with nine goals and 19 points in conference play. He also led the WAC with 16 goals and 34 points overall, including hat tricks against IUPUI and on the road at Houston Baptist. His scoring total would rank him third nationally and his points would put him in a tie for fourth nationally as the Lopes are in their final year of transition to NCAA Division I.
Bjornethun, a senior defender from Snohomish, Wash., anchored a backline that surrendered just six goals in WAC play. He was on the field for the whole game in eight of 10 WAC contests, including a pair of overtime matches at UMKC and UIW.
Mehlich, a midfielder from Monchengladbach, Germany, earned the start in all 10 WAC matches for UNLV. He finished the conference schedule with three goals, including two in a 4-0 win against San José State and one against Air Force, and two assists for eight total points. One of his two goals against SJSU also proved to be the game-winner for the Rebels.
Maas, the architect of the Utah Valley men's soccer program, led the Wolverines to their first WAC regular season title in just their third season as a program. Last season, he took UVU to their first-ever NCAA Tournament, facing perennial-power SMU in the opening round. A 1988 graduate of University of Portland, he was a two-sport athlete for the Pilots, playing goalkeeper on the pitch and also pitching for the UP baseball team. Prior to coming to UVU, he served as Technical Director for the Utah Youth Soccer Association and as head coach of the Real Salt Lake U-17 team.
2016 First Team All-WAC
Niki Jackson, Jr., F, Grand Canyon
Danny Musovski, Jr., F, UNLV
Skyler Milne, Sr., F, Utah Valley
Paul Hoffmeister, Jr., MF, Utah Valley
Alex Roldan, Jr., MF, Seattle U
Sergio Rivas, So., MF, Seattle U
Tucker Bone, So., MF, Air Force
Kyle Bjornethun, Sr., D, Seattle U
Alex Neff, Sr., D, Utah Valley
Cameron Duley, Sr., D, Air Force
Mitch Jensen, Jr., GK, Utah Valley
2016 Second Team All-WAC
Ben Conway, Sr, F, UIW
Austin Dewing, So., F, Air Force
Karson Payton, Jr., F, Utah Valley
Aaron Meyer, So., MF, Utah Valley
Jonathan Colunga, Sr., MF, San José State
Timo Mehlich, Fr., MF, UNLV
Sam Langston, Sr., D, Seattle U
Hector Montalvo, Fr., D, Grand Canyon
Nathan Aune, So., D, Seattle U
Frederik Frankman, Jr., D, UT Rio Grande Valley
John Wendt, Jr., GK, Air Force
Offensive Player of the Year: Niki Jackson, Jr., F, Grand Canyon
Defensive Player of the Year: Kyle Bjornethun, Sr., D, Seattle U
Freshman of the Year: Timo Mehlich, Fr., MF, UNLV
Coach of the Year: Greg Maas, Utah Valley