Big Ten Announces 2021 Men’s Soccer Postseason Honors
ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten Conference announced the 2021 men’s soccer All-Big Ten teams and individual honors Friday as selected by a vote of the head coaches. Penn State, the 2021 Big Ten Champion, claimed a pair of honors as Peter Mangione was named Offensive Player of the Year and Jeff Cook was voted Coach of the Year. Maryland’s Ben Bender was a unanimous selection as Midfielder of the Year and teammate Joshua Bolma earned Freshman of the Year accolades. Indiana’s Roman Celentano was selected as Goalkeeper of the Year for the second consecutive season, while fellow Hoosier Daniel Munie was named the Defensive Player of the Year.
Mangione tied for second in the conference with three game-winning goals in all contests as he was named Offensive Player of the Year. He is the third Nittany Lion to earn the award since it was created in 2009 and the first since Connor Maloney in 2014.
Bender led the Big Ten with 21 points this season while tying for the goal-scoring lead with eight on his way to a unanimous selection as Midfielder of the Year. He becomes the second Terrapin to be named Midfielder of the Year and the first since Eryk Williamson in 2017.
Munie was voted Defensive Player of the Year after tallying three goals and two assists while starting all 17 contests for Indiana. He is the fourth Hoosier to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors and the first since Jack Maher in 2019.
Celentano was named the Goalkeeper of the Year for the second consecutive season after posting an .809 save percentage and eight shutouts, both of which paced the Big Ten. He becomes the first men’s soccer standout to be named Goalkeeper of the Year in back-to-back seasons.
Bolma led Maryland with three game-winning goals and ranked second on the team in both goals (four) and points (12). He is the first Terrapin to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Cook was voted Coach of the Year after leading Penn State to the 2021 Big Ten Championship, marking the team’s first title since 2013. Cook earns his first Coach of the Year honor and becomes the third Penn State coach to claim the award following Barry Gorman (2005) and Bob Warming (2012 and 2013).
Bender was a unanimous selection on the All-Big Ten First Team and was joined by Celentano, Munie, Bolma, Mangione, Maryland’s Brett St. Martin, Michigan’s Marc Ybarra, Michigan State’s Jack Beck and Farai Mutatu, Northwestern’s Justin Weiss, Ohio State’s Laurence Wootton and Penn State’s Brandon Hackenberg. The full All-Big Ten Teams are listed below.
The Big Ten also recognized nine Sportsmanship Award honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The complete list of honorees is also listed below.
The Big Ten Tournament begins at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday with No. 2 seed Maryland playing host to No. 7 seed Northwestern, No. 3 seed Indiana welcoming No. 6 seed Rutgers, and No. 4 seed Michigan entertaining No. 5 seed Wisconsin, all on B1G+. Top-seeded Penn State will host No. 8 seed Michigan State on Sunday at 4 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
The semifinals will take place on Wednesday, November 10, at the sites of the highest remaining seeds in each half of the bracket, while the final is scheduled for Sunday, November 14, at the highest remaining seed. For more information on the Big Ten Men’s Soccer Tournament, click here.
2021 Big Ten Men’s Soccer Awards
Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: Peter Mangione, Penn State
Big Ten Midfielder of the Year: BEN BENDER, MARYLAND
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Daniel Munie, Indiana
Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year: Roman Celentano, Indiana
Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Joshua Bolma, Maryland
Big Ten Coach of the Year: JEFF COOK, PENN STATE
All-Big Ten First Team*
Forward
Farai Mutatu, Michigan State
Justin Weiss, Northwestern
Peter Mangione, Penn State
Midfield
BEN BENDER, MARYLAND
Joshua Bolma, Maryland
Marc Ybarra, Michigan
Jack Beck, Michigan State
Laurence Wootton, Ohio State
Defense
Daniel Munie, Indiana
Brett St. Martin, Maryland
Brandon Hackenberg, Penn State
Goalkeeper
Roman Celentano, Indiana
All-Big Ten Second Team
Forward
Victor Bezerra, Indiana
Jackson Temple, Rutgers
Midfield
Herbert Endeley, Indiana
Seth Kuhn, Penn State
Andrew Privett, Penn State
Pierre Reedy, Penn State
Defense
Spencer Glass, Indiana
Vince Borden, Rutgers
Moritz Kappelsberger, Wisconsin
Goalkeeper
Niklas Neumann, Maryland
All-Big Ten Freshman Team*
TOMMY MIHALIC, INDIANA
Sam Sarver, Indiana
JOSHUA BOLMA, MARYLAND
William Kulvik, Maryland
CADEN STAFFORD, MARYLAND
Jason Bucknor, Michigan
Hayden Evans, Michigan
COLLIN MCCAMY, NORTHWESTERN
Nathan Demian, Ohio State
Anthony Samways, Ohio State
MATT ACOSTA, RUTGERS
Joey Zalinsky, Rutgers
Adir Raphael, Wisconsin
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Joey Maher, Indiana
Justin Gielen, Maryland
Kevin Buca, Michigan
Farai Mutatu, Michigan State
Deng Deng Kur, Northwestern
Xavier Green, Ohio State
Alex Stevenson, Penn State
Ola Maeland, Rutgers
Tim Bielic, Wisconsin
Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS
* – Additional honoree due to ties
No.2 Indiana Football roars past UCLA 56-6
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Smiles? Don't do it. Don't think about it. Not during a game, certainly not anywhere near Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti. That's what the post-game locker room is for; that's reserved for the aftermath when victory is achieved and full...