# 2017 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season

The 2017 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season was the 27th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference.
The Loyola Ramblers were the defending regular season champions, while the SIU Edwardsville Cougars (now in the Mid-American Conference) were the 2016 tournament champions.
With the results of the games of Saturday, October 28, Missouri State secured the top seed in the MVC Tournament with Central Arkansas seeded second. MoSt then won the regular season title with a draw at Drake on November 4.
On Sunday, November 12, the Central Arkansas Bears defeated the Missouri State Bears 1–0 in overtime at Shea Stadium in Peoria, Illinois to with their first MVC Championship and advance to their first NCAA tournament since moving to Division I in 2007.

## Changes from 2016

The Valparaiso Crusaders joined the MVC on July 1 after spending the past ten years in the Horizon League. At the time, Valpo became the eighth team in MVC men's soccer.
The MVC lost SIU Edwardsville (SIUE) to the Mid-American Conference, returning the MVC to seven men's soccer teams. The Cougars had initially been announced as joining MAC men's soccer in 2018, but less than a week after the initial announcement, the MAC indicated that SIUE men's soccer would instead join in 2017.

## Teams

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Head Coach | Uniform supplier |
| Bradley Braves | Peoria, Illinois | Shea Stadium | 3,800 | Jim DeRose | adidas |
| Central Arkansas Bears | Conway, Arkansas | Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex | 300 | Ross Duncan | adidas |
| Drake Bulldogs | Des Moines, Iowa | Cownie Sports Complex | 2,000 | Gareth Smith | adidas |
| Evansville Purple Aces | Evansville, Indiana | Arad McCutchan Stadium | 2,500 | Marshall Ray | adidas |
| Loyola Ramblers | Chicago, Illinois | Loyola Soccer Park | 500 | Neil Jones | Nike |
| Missouri State Bears | Springfield, Missouri | Robert W. Plaster Stadium | 16,600 | John Leamy | adidas |
| Valparaiso Crusaders | Valparaiso, Indiana | Brown Field | 5,000 | Mike Avery | Nike |

## Season outlook

2017 Preseason MVC Coaches' Poll
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Points |
| 1 | Loyola (5) | 47 |
| 2 | Evansville (1) | 38 |
| 3 | Missouri State (1) | 34 |
| 4 | Central Arkansas | 30 |
| 5 | Drake | 18 |
| 6 | Valparaiso | 15 |
| 7 | Bradley | 14 |
2017 Preseason MVC All-Conference Team'
| Player | School | Position | Class | Hometown (High school) |
| Zac Blaydes | Evansville | Junior | Forward | Midway, Kentucky (Woodford County) |
| Niklas Brodacki | Central Arkansas | Sophomore | Forward | Norrkoping, Sweden (IFK Norrkoping) |
| Elliot Collier † | Loyola | Forward | Junior | Hamilton, New Zealand (Saint Paul's Collegiate) |
| Steven Enna | Drake | Senior | Forward | Overland Park, Kansas (St. James Academy) |
| Ramone Howell | Valparaiso | Senior | Midfielder | Portmore, Jamaica (Jamaica College) |
| Alec Lasinski | Loyola | Junior | Forward | Ann Arbor, Michigan (Skyline) |
| Ian McGrath | Evansville | Senior | Midfielder | New Lenox, Illinois (Lincoln-Way West) |
| Marc Olsen | Central Arkansas | Sophomore | Goalkeeper | Copenhagen, Denmark (Brondby Gynamsium) |
| Richard Olson | Bradley | Senior | Forward | Park Ridge, Illinois (Maine South) |
| Grant Stoneman | Loyola | Junior | Defender | St. Charles, Illinois (Wheaton Academy) |
| Simon Waever | Evansville | Sophomore | Defender | Holte, Denmark (Skovlyskolen) |
† = Also on 2016 Preseason MVC All-Conference Team

## Regular season
### Rankings
#### United Soccer Coaches National Poll

Source =
Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
* Not ranked previous week or no change in ranking
| | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Final |
| Bradley | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Central Arkansas | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Drake | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Evansville | — | — | rv | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Loyola | — | rv | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Missouri State | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | rv | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Valpo | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |

#### West Region rankings

Source =
| | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 |
| Bradley | — | — | — | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Central Arkansas | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Drake | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Evansville | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | — | — | — | 7 | 7 |
| Loyola | 4 | 5 | 6 | — | 8 | — | — | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | — |
| Missouri State | — | — | — | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Valpo | — | 9 | 10 | 9 | — | — | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | — | — |

#### NCAA RPI

Source =
| | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Final |
| Bradley | 69 | 82 | 105 | 132 | 131 | 124 | 114 | 114 |
| Central Arkansas | 171 | 172 | 161 | 156 | 167 | 148 | 144 | 154 |
| Drake | 140 | 152 | 138 | 151 | 140 | 121 | 122 | 124 |
| Evansville | 52 | 76 | 75 | 101 | 114 | 83 | 78 | 75 |
| Loyola | 133 | 141 | 120 | 124 | 119 | 111 | 120 | 121 |
| Missouri State | 41 | 32 | 59 | 61 | 65 | 75 | 89 | 95 |
| Valpo | 177 | 150 | 141 | 162 | 161 | 163 | 164 | 164 |

### MVC Players of the Week

| Date | Offensive Player of the Week | Class | Position | School | Defensive Player of the Week | Class | Position | School |
| August 29 | Ian McGrath | Senior | Midfielder | Evansville | Matthew Keller | Senior | Goalkeeper | Evansville |
| September 6 | Rafael Mentzingen | Junior | Midfielder | Valparaiso | Nacho Miras | Sophomore | Goalkeeper | Valparaiso |
| September 12 | Niklas Brodacki | Sophomore | Forward | Central Arkansas | Marius Kullmann | Sophomore | Defender | Loyola |
| September 19 | Conor Ingram | Junior | Forward | Missouri State | Brandon Barnes | Senior | Goalkeeper | Bradley |
| September 26 | Conor Ingram | Junior | Forward | Missouri State | Brandon Barnes | Senior | Goalkeeper | Bradley |
| October 3 | Pepe San Roman | Senior | Midfielder | Central Arkansas | Brandon Barnes | Senior | Goalkeeper | Bradley |
| October 10 | Rafael Mentzingen | Junior | Forward | Valparaiso | Liam Priestley | Senior | Goalkeeper | Missouri State |
| October 17 | Elliot Collier | Senior | Forward | Loyola | Jake Bates | Freshman | Defender | Central Arkansas |
| October 24 | Niklas Brodacki | Sophomore | Forward | Central Arkansas | Grant Stoneman | Junior | Defender | Loyola |
| October 31 | Josh Dolling | Freshman | Forward | Missouri State | Caden McCullough | Freshman | Goalkeeper | Drake |
| November 7 | Niklas Brodacki | Sophomore | Forward | Central Arkansas | Brandon Barnes | Senior | Goalkeeper | Bradley |

## Postseason
### MVC Tournament

The 2017 MVC Tournament was played November 7, 8, 10, and 12 at Bradley University's Shea Stadium in Peoria, Illinois.
Second seeded Central Arkansas defeated top-seeded Missouri State 1–0 in overtime to earn the MVC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

### NCAA tournament

| Seed | Region | School | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |
| — | 3 | Central Arkansas Bears | @ Southern Methodist Lost 2–0 | — | — | — | — | — |

### 2018 MLS SuperDraft

| Round | Pick # | MLS team | Player | Position | College | Other |

## Honors
### 2017 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men's All-West Region teams

Source:
| Player | School | Position | Class | Hometown (High school/Previous college) |
| First Team |||||
| Nick Burtenshaw | Missouri State | Defender | Senior | Hatfield Hertfordshire, England (The Harefield Academy) |
| Niklas Brodacki | Central Arkansas | Forward | Sophomore | Norrkoping, Sweden (IFK Norrkoping) |
| Ian McGrath | Evansville | Midfielder | Senior | New Lenox, Ill. (Lincoln-Way West) |
| Second Team |||||
| Kyle Hiebert | Missouri State | Midfielder/Defender | Sophomore | La Salle, Manitoba, Canada (Glenlawn Collegiate School) |
| Rafael Mentzingen | Valparaiso | Midfielder | Junior | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Bryan) |
| Liam Priestley | Missouri State | Goalkeeper | Senior | Essex, England (St. Thomas More) |
| Simon Waever | Evansville | Defender | Sophomore | Holte, Denmark (Skovlyskolen) |
| Third Team |||||
| Adan Garcia | Valparaiso | Forward | Sophomore | Dallas, Texas (Episcopal School of Dallas) |
| Conor Ingram | Missouri State | Forward | Junior | Oxford, England (Fitzharrys School) |
| Roman Schindler | Bradley | Forward | Sophomore | Vienna, Austria (BRG4 Waltergasse School/Indiana Tech) |
| Jacob Taylor | Bradley | Defender | Senior | Dunlap, Ill. (Dunlap) |

### 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America teams

Source:
The six athletes named Academic All-Americans from the Missouri Valley Conference was the most from any of the 24 soccer playing conferences; the twelve team Atlantic Coast Conference was second with five members.

#### First team

Clark Emerson. Bradley University, 4.00, Business (Finance)

#### Second team

Aleksi Tuominen, Drake University, 4.00, Health Sciences

#### Third team

Liam Priestley, Missouri State University, 3.52, Finance
Kyle Hiebert, Missouri State University, 4.00, Accounting
Chris Holmes, University of Central Arkansas, 4.00, Health Services Administration
Ryan Merideth. Drake University. 3.86. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

### 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-District teams

Source:
Only All-District players are eligible for the Academic All-America ballot.

#### District 5 (IL, IN, MI, OH)

Clark Emerson. Bradley University, 4.00, Business (Finance)

#### District 6 (AR, IA, LA, MN, MO, MS, ND, SD, WI)

Liam Priestley, Missouri State University, 3.52, Finance
Kyle Hiebert, Missouri State University, 4.00, Accounting
Daltyn Knutson, University of Central Arkansas, 3.95, Finance
Aleksi Tuominen, Drake University, 4.00, Health Sciences
Chris Holmes, University of Central Arkansas, 4.00, Health Services Administration
Ryan Merideth. Drake University. 3.86. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

### 2017 NSCAA NCAA Division I Men's Scholar All-America teams

Source:
| Position | Name | Class | School | Major | GPA | Hometown |

### NSCAA 2017-18 College Team Academic Award

Source:
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) annually recognizes college and high school soccer programs that have excelled in the classroom by posting a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher. — of the MVC's seven teams were honored this year. The schools, their head coaches, and their team GPAs are:
—TBA—

### 2017 MVC awards

Source=
2017 MVC Men's Soccer Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Player of the Year | Niklas Brodacki, Central Arkansas |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Niklas Brodacki, Central Arkansas |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Nick Burtenshaw, Missouri State |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Liam Priestley, Missouri State |
| Freshman of the Year | Younes Dayekh, Bradley |
| Coaching Staff of the Year | Central Arkansas (Ross Duncan, Mitch McKay, Jordan Bates, Nick Doyle) |
| MVC Fair Play Award | Missouri State |

### 2017 MVC All-Conference First Team

| Player | School | Position | Class | Hometown (High school/Previous college) |
| Liam Priestley | Missouri State | GK | Sr. | Essex, England (St. Thomas More) |
| Simon Waever# | Evansville | D | So. | Holte, Denmark (Skovlyskolen) |
| Grant Stoneman% | Loyola | D | Jr. | St. Charles, Ill. (Wheaton Academy/Wisconsin) |
| Nick Burtenshaw | Missouri State | D | Sr. | Hatfield Hertfordshire, England (The Harefield Academy) |
| Niklas Brodacki% | Central Arkansas | F | So. | Norrkoping, Sweden (IFK Norrkoping) |
| Conor Ingram | Missouri State | F | Jr. | Oxford, England (Fitzharrys School) |
| Pepe San Roman | Central Arkansas | M | Sr. | Madrid, Spain (I.E.S. Margarita Salas) |
| Ian McGrath+% | Evansville | M | Sr. | New Lenox, Ill. (Lincoln-Way West) |
| Elliot Collier%!* | Loyola | M | Sr. | Hamilton, New Zealand (St. Paul's Collegiate) |
| Kyle Thomson$* | Loyola | M | Sr. | Park Ridge, Ill. (Maine South) |
| Rafael Mentzingen | Valparaiso | M | Jr. | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Bryan) |
* %First-team selection in 2016; $Second-team selection in 2016; #HM selection in 2016; *Second-team selection in 2015; +HM selection in 2015; ! Second-team selection in 2014

### 2017 MVC All-Conference Second Team

| Player | School | Position | Class | Hometown (High school/Previous college) |
| Brandon Barnes | Bradley | GK | Gr. | Cary, Ill. (Prairie Ridge/Seton Hall) |
| Jacob Taylor+ | Bradley | D | Sr. | Dunlap, Ill. (Dunlap) |
| Mason Leonard | Drake | D | Sr. | Overland Park, Kan. (Blue Valley Northwest) |
| Ben Stroud | Missouri State | D | So. | Christchurch, New Zealand (Scots College) |
| Adan Garcia | Valparaiso | F | So. | Dallas, Texas (Episcopal School of Dallas) |
| Donald Benamna | Central Arkansas | F | Jr. | Bangui, Central Africa Republic & Silver Springs, Md. (Montgomery Blair/San Jacinto JC) |
| Fabian Lifka*# | Loyola | M | Jr. | Kelkhelm, Germany (Taunusgymnasium Koenigstein) |
| Ramone Howell | Valparaiso | M | Sr. | Portmore, Jamaica (Jamaica College) |
| Frank Bak+ | Bradley | M | Jr. | Glenview, Ill. (Glenbrook South) |
| Younes Dayekh | Bradley | M | Fr. | Brentwood, Calif. (Heritage) |
| Chris Holmes | Central Arkansas | M | Jr. | Conway, Ark. (Little Rock Catholic) |
* #HM selection in 2016; *Second-team selection in 2015; +HM selection in 2015

#### 2017 MVC All-Tournament Team

Source=
2017 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Tournament MVP–Niklas Brodacki, Central Arkansas
| Player | School | Position |
| Niklas Brodacki | Central Arkansas | Forward |
| Nick Burtenshaw | Missouri State | Defender |
| Ian McGrath | Evansville | Midfielder |
| Rafael Mentzingen | Valparaiso | Midfielder |
| Liam Priestley | Missouri State | Goalkeeper |
| Tyler Ridener | Central Arkansas | Defender |
| Jordy Robins | Missouri State | Midfielder |
| Pepe San Roman | Central Arkansas | Midfielder |
| Blake Stricker | Central Arkansas | Defender |
| Jacob Taylor | Bradley | Defender |
| Jake Taylor | Drake | Defender |
| Kyle Thomson | Loyola | Midfielder |
| Simon Waever | Evansville | Defender |
| Gerit Wintermeyer | Bradley | Forward |

#### 2017 MVC Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete teams

Source=
The criteria for the All-MVC honor parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.00 scale). Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the regular-season matches or played in the league tournament. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.
| Player | School | Class | GPA | Major |
| First Team |||||
| Zac Blaydes@ | Evansville | Jr. | 3.83 | Exercise Science |
| Falk Dennert | Bradley | Sr. | 3.86 | International Business |
| Clark Emerson@# | Bradley | Sr | 4.00 | Finance |
| Kyle Hiebert | Missouri State | So. | 4.00 | Accounting |
| Chris Holmes% | Central Arkansas | Jr. | 4.00 | Health Services Administration |
| Colton Jackson | Central Arkansas | Sr. | 4.00 | Accounting |
| Matthew Keller | Evansville | Sr. | 3.99 | Accounting & Finance |
| Daltyn Knutson | Central Arkansas | Jr. | 3.95 | Finance |
| Ryan Merideth | Drake | Jr. | 3.86 | Molecular Biology |
| Ian McGrath@ | Evansville | Sr. | 3.35 | Athletic Training |
| Liam Priestley% | Missouri State | Sr. | 3.52 | Finance |
| Jacob Taylor@ | Bradley | Sr. | 3.61 | Mechanical Engineering |
| Jake Taylor | Drake | Gr. | 4.00 | MBA |
| Simon Waever | Evansville | So. | 4.00 | Business |
| Honorable Mention |||||
| Elliot Collier | Loyola | Sr. | 3.37 | Exercise Science |
| Alex Peterson | Drake | So. | 3.95 | Finance & Marketing |
* @ = First Team in 2016; % = Honorable Mention in 2016; # = First Team in 2015