Big Ten Announces 2019 Men’s Soccer Postseason Honors
ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten Conference announced the 2019 men’s soccer All-Big Ten teams and individual honors Friday. 2019 Big Ten Champion claimed three honors as Jack Maher was as selected Defender of the Year, Aidan Morris collected Freshman of the Year honors and Todd Yeagley was voted Coach of the Year. Michigan’s Nebojsa Popovic was chosen as Offensive Player of the Year and teammate Andrew Verdi earned Goalkeeper of the Year accolades. Penn State’s Aaron Molloy was selected as Midfielder of the Year through a vote by the 14 head coaches.
Popovic leads the Big Ten and Michigan with points (23), points per game (1.35), goals (10) and goals per game (0.59) this season to collect Offensive Player of the Year, unanimously. Popovic is the second Wolverine to earn the award since it was created in 2009, with teammate and 2019 All-Big Ten First Team honoree Jack Hallahan earning the award last year.
Molloy, who was a 2018 All-Big Ten Second Team member, collected eight goals and five assists this season for 21 points to rank second in the Big Ten as he was unanimously chosen for Midfielder of the Year. His point, goal and assist totals lead the Nittany Lions for the 2019 season. Molloy is the first Penn State student to earn Midfielder of the Year.
Maher was voted Defensive Player of the Year following his shutdown play that helped Indiana to the 2019 Big Ten title. Led by the sophomore captain, Indiana only allowed 15 goals in 17 games this season, and posted six shutouts. The 2018 Big Ten Freshman of the Year is the third Hoosier to earn Defender of the year and the third in as many years, following Grand Lillard (2017) and Andrew Gutman (2018).
Verdi was chosen as Goalkeeper of the Year after posting a 0.78 goals allowed per game average, a 0.727 save percentage and collecting seven shutouts in 15 games. The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar is the first student for Michigan to earn Goalkeeper of the Year since its installment.
Morris was an instrumental part of an offensive unit that helped the Hoosiers claim the Big Ten title and score 34 goals as a team. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native leads Indiana with six assists along with two goals for 10 points. Morris is the 16th Indiana student to earn Freshman of the Year and third in as many years following Mason Toye (2017), Jack Maher (2018).
Yeagley led Indiana to the 2019 Big Ten Championship, following its 2018 Big Ten Championship season. Indiana is the first program to win back-to-back titles since Penn State did it in 2012 and 2013. Yeagley also received the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2018 and was the NCAA Coach of the Year in 2012.
Maher, Morris, Popovic, Verdi, Molloy earned spots on the All-Big Ten First Team and were joined by Maryland’s Johannes Bergmann and Eli Crognale, Michigan’s unanimous selection Jack Hallahan and Jackson Ragen and Penn State’s Liam Butts and Brandon Hackenberg. The All-Big Ten Teams are listed at the end of this release.
The Big Ten also recognizes nine Sportsmanship Award honorees. The students 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 Saturday with No. 8 seed Ohio state facing No. 9 Rutgers in Bloomington, Ind., in the first-round game. Indiana will play host to a quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. ET, Sunday streaming on BTN+ against the winner of the first-round game. The rest of the quarterfinal games will be played at higher-seeded schools hosting on campus as No. 2 Penn State plays No. 7 Wisconsin at 1 p.m. ET, on BTN+, No. 3 Michigan entertains No. 6 Michigan State at 4 p.m. ET, live on BTN, No. 4 Northwestern welcomes No. 5 Maryland on BTN+ at 2 p.m. ET.
Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: Nebojsa Popovic, Michigan*
Big Ten Midfielder of the Year: Aaron Molloy, Penn State*
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Maher, Indiana
Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year: Andrew Verdi, Michigan
Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Aidan Morris, Indiana
Big Ten Coach of the Year: Todd Yeagley, Indiana
All-Big Ten First Team
Forward
Nebojsa Popovic, Michigan*
Liam Butts, Penn State
Midfield
Aidan Morris, Indiana
Eli Crognale, Maryland
Jack Hallahan, Michigan*
Aaron Molloy, Penn State*
Defense
Jack Maher, Indiana*
Johannes Bergmann, Maryland*
Jackson Ragen, Michigan
Brandon Hackenberg, Penn State
Goalkeeper
Andrew Verdi, Michigan
All-Big Ten Second Team
Forward
Eric Matzelevich, Maryland
Matt Moderwell, Northwestern
Midfield
Joshua Penn, Indiana
Marc Ybarra, Michigan
Jack Holland, Ohio State
Pablo Ávila, Rutgers
Defense
Spencer Glass, Indiana
Simon Waever, Indiana
Patrick Nielsen, Michigan State
Garrett Opperman, Northwestern
Goalkeeper
Niklas Neumann, Maryland
All-Big Ten Freshman Team
Herbert Endeley, Indiana
Aidan Morris, Indiana*
Joshua Penn, Indiana*
Malcolm Johnston, Maryland
Nick Richardson, Maryland
Derick Broche, Michigan
Liam Butts, Penn State*
Kris Shakes, Penn State
Jalen Watson, Penn State*
Hugo Le Guennec, Rutgers
Jackson Temple, Rutgers*
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Jack Maher, Indiana
Nick Richardson, Maryland
Kevin Buca, Michigan
Cody Sweatte, Michigan State
Mac Mazolla, Northwestern
Parker Siegfried, Ohio State
Will Campbell, Penn State
Jake Longo, Rutgers
Noah Leibold, Wisconsin
* – Unanimous selection