• 2024 All-OVC Men's Soccer Teams and Award Winners (PDF)
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - The Ohio Valley Conference announced the 2024 men's soccer award winners and All-Conference teams on Friday, two days ahead of the start of the 2024 OVC Championship which will take place in Edwardsville, Illinois.
In a vote of league head coaches and communications directors, SIUE's
Cale Wassermann repeated as OVC Coach of the Year while two of his players earned individual awards. That included
Rob Gjelaj, Goalkeeper of the Year, and
Yasha Schaerer, Midfielder of the Year. HCU’s
Sam Zeeman was tabbed Defender of the Year while the Huskies
Morgan Worsfold-Gregg earned Freshman of the Year honors. Liberty senior
Michael Huss was voted the OVC Forward of the Year.
The league also announced the All-OVC first and second teams as well as an All-Newcomer Team. HCU and SIUE had the most combined first and second team picks with six apiece, while Lindenwood had five, Liberty tallied four and UIW earned two. Seven of the eight OVC teams had at least one All-Newcomer pick, with SIUE leading the way with three.
Wassermann guided the Cougars to an 8-1-1 OVC mark and 10-4-3 overall record as the Cougars repeated as regular season champions. The Cougars are a combined 17-1-2 in league play over two seasons of OVC soccer. In non-conference action SIUE topped No. 8 ranked Saint Louis to claim the Bronze Boot for the second year in a row, and then tied Memphis, a team it lost to in last year’s NCAA Tournament. In league play the team finished with 25 points, five points better than second place. The team had nine shutouts during the year and ranked sixth nationally in shutout percentage (52.9%).
Gjelaj played all but 28 minutes in goal in his first year with SIUE after transferring from Northwood University. The graduate student ranked second nationally in shutouts (9) and save percentage (83.7%), 16th in total saves (72), 22nd in goals against average (0.839) and 28th in saves per game (4.24). He was named OVC Goalkeeper of the Week six times during the season in recording a 10-4-3 record in goal.
Schaerer dished out seven assists during the season, ranking 56th nationally in the category. The sophomore also scored three goals, all of which were game-winners for SIUE (a mark that ranked 27th nationally). Overall, his 13 points led the SIUE team that claimed its second-straight regular season crown.
Zeeman was a key part of the HCU defense that ranked 25th nationally in goals against average (0.889) and 44th in shutout percentage (38.9%) for a team that earned the No. 2 seed for the OVC Tournament with a 5-2-3 league mark after finishing seventh in the league standings a year ago. The senior played 1,193 minutes and helped the Huskies record seven total shutouts in 18 matches. Zeeman also added three goals (on five shots) and an assist in his 14 total matches played.
In his first collegiate season, Worsfold-Gregg started 15 matches and logged 1,171 minutes in the midfield. He scored two goals (on just five shots),including a game-winner, and added two assists.
Huss started all 16 matches for Liberty during the season, leading the league with 11 goals while adding two assists in 745 minutes of game time. The senior had three goals in a victory over Western Illinois in September and added two-goal games against each Southern Indiana and the season-opener versus Mount Olive. Nationally he ranked second in shot accuracy (65.7%), 16th in total goals (11), 18th in goals per game (0.69), 25th in total points (24), 27th in game-winning goals (3) and 29th in points per game (1.50).
2024 All-OVC Men’s Soccer Teams and Award Winners
OVC Forward of the Year: Michael Huss, Liberty
OVC Midfielder of the Year: Yasha Schaerer, SIUE
OVC Defender of the Year: Sam Zeeman, HCU
OVC Goalkeeper of the Year: Rob Gjelaj, SIUE
OVC Freshman of the Year: Morgan Worsfold-Gregg, HCU
OVC Coach of the Year: Cale Wassermann, SIUE
ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
GK - Rob Gjelaj, SIUE
D - Sam Zeeman, HCU
D - Nic Muench, SIUE
D - Carlos Trott, Liberty
D - Noe Bijou, Lindenwood
MF - Yasha Schaerer, SIUE
MF - Gabe Findley, Liberty
MF - Morgan Worsfold-Gregg, HCU
F - Michael Huss, Liberty
F - Ryan Okerayi, HCU
F - Ethan Blake, Lindenwood
ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
GK - Enzo Gil, Lindenwood
GK - Alex Aitken, HCU
D - Rochaine Baker, UIW
D - Wes Gibson, SIUE
D - Cameron Caldwell, Lindenwood
MF - Miles Merritt, UIW
MF - D'Alessandro Herrera, HCU
MF - Luke Eberle, Liberty
MF - John Gates, Lindenwood
F - Nacho Abeal, SIUE
F - Ethan Giwa-McNeil, HCU
F - Jacobo Sanfeliu, SIUE
ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
MF - Morgan Worsfold-Gregg, HCU
D - Theo Butterworth, HCU
MF - Aidan Morrison, Liberty
MF - John Gates, Lindenwood
GK - Rob Gjelaj, SIUE
MF - Yasha Schaerer, SIUE
MF - Carles Zomeno, SIUE
F - David Davila, Southern Indiana
D - Rochaine Baker, UIW
D - Giovanni Padilla, UIW
D - Ryan Wrobleski, Western Illinois