(Photos courtesy of David Faulkner, SPX Sports.)
LEXINGTON, Ky. – With the 2019 season in the rearview mirror, D3soccer.com announced its men’s All-America teams as chosen by D3soccer.com staff, Division III soccer coaches and sports information directors on Wednesday and two Gusties received the honor. Cole Schwartz (So., Jakarta, Indonesia) was named to the Second Team, while Matt Gibbons (Jr., Minneapolis) was named Third Team.
In his first campaign with the Gusties, Schwartz was able to paste his name all over the Gustavus record books. He totaled 24 goals and seven assists for 55 points, making him the fifth player in conference history to score at least 50 points in a season, and are the most of any conference player since 1975. Schwartz was also prominent on the national leaderboards, with his 24 goals being the fourth most in the nation. The Jakarta native also had 23 points during the conference season for the Gusties, the most for any MIAC player since Kimani Williams of Macalester put up 33 in 2001.
Albeit missing four games to injury, Gibbons was able to lead the conference in the assists in his junior campaign with 17, while also adding eight goals. The midfielder averaged 0.78 assists per contest, which was the fifth most in the nation. The Minneapolis native played an integral role in the team’s NCAA tournament run, dishing out three assists in a pair of games for the Gusties. The 30 total points for the Gibbons this season were the fourth most in the MIAC and the most of any midfielder.
Schwartz and Gibbons are the first two Gusties to receive the d3soccer.com All-America honor since Lucas Thompson and Brett Ylonen each received the honor following the 2012 season.
This is the 10th year that D3soccer.com has recognized the top men’s and women’s players from across the nation. More than 500 men’s players were nominated, less than 5% of the student-athletes that played this season.