Official Horizon League Release

INDIANAPOLIS – UIC senior Andrew Putna has been named the Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year and has placed on the All-League First Team alongside sophomore Max Todd and junior Jose Fuentes, the conference office announced on Monday. Cristian Sanchez and Alex Cervantes round out the field of Flames as they garnered All-Freshman Team honors.
 
With the accolades, UIC has now been the recipient of Goalkeeper of the Year four times (Jovan Bubonja – 2, Andrew Putna – 2) and has 56 First Team and 34 All-Freshman Team recognitions.

"First, I would like to congratulate all the players from the Horizon League who were nominated and selected," head coach Sean Phillips said. "The League continues to become more and more talented every year."

"It is always great to see individual members of your team deservedly recognized for their accomplishments over the course of the season. These individual awards reflect the tremendous amount of work put in by each member of this team thus far. While individual awards are nice, team accomplishments are the most gratifying and what it is really all about to this group."
 
Putna caps his stellar career by collecting Goalkeeper of the Year and First Team laurels for the second time after he received the honors as a freshman. While starting in all but one game, he has posted a 7-5-3 record with a conference-best six shutouts and five in league play. He owns 42 saves and a 1.39 goals-against-average, with a mark of 0.97 against conference opponents as he held seven teams to a combined three goals.
 
Todd brings home his second Horizon League postseason accolade after placing on the All-Freshman Team last season. In his sophomore campaign, he sits within the top three in the Horizon League standings while leading the Flames in goals (8), assists (7), points (23) and shots (62). He has been equally impressive in league games, scoring four goals and adding five assists while attempting 42 shots.
 
Fuentes collects his second postseason award after earning a spot on the All-Freshman Team two seasons ago. He has produced the second-most goals (5) and points (12) for UIC, and has added two assists and 37 shots while he scored three of his goals and had more than half of his shots in league play. He was additionally awarded as the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week twice this season after garnering two game-winning goals.
 
Sanchez started every game on the back line and earned the most minutes out of any Flame. He aided in the effort of holding Horizon League foes to 12 goals, 79 shots and 33 shots on goal while tallying five shutouts and six total on the year.
 
Cervantes came in to play all but one game for UIC this season as he earned eight starts as a forward, with six coming in conference games. He added one assist on a goal by Fuentes against Drake and put up 10 shots with three on goal.
 
As the No. 2 seed, the Flames will begin play in the Horizon League Tournament Thursday in the semifinals as they are set to face the highest remaining seed out of the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. CT at Alumni Field in Dayton, Ohio.
 
 
2016 Horizon League Men's Soccer Award Winners
Player of the Year: Peguy Ngatcha, Wright State
Offensive Player of the Year: Peguy Ngatcha, Wright State
Defensive Player of the Year: Sergio Manesio, Cleveland State
Goalkeeper of the Year: Andrew Putna, UIC
Freshman of the Year: Evan Conway, Milwaukee
Coach of the Year: Bryan Davis, Wright State
 
First Team All-League
Max Todd, UIC (So., F)
Peguy Ngatcha, Wright State (Sr., F)
Eric Lynch, Wright State (Sr., F)
Alec Nagucki, Cleveland State (Jr., MF)
Jose Fuentes, UIC (Jr., MF)
Isaiah Madrid, Valparaiso (Sr., MF)
Sergio Manesio, Cleveland State (Sr., D)
Omar Lawrence, Valparaiso (Sr., D)
Jake Stovall, Wright State (Sr., D)
Kaique Fernandes, Wright State (Sr., D)
Andrew Putna, UIC (Sr., GK)
 
Second Team All-League
Jake Lagania, Cleveland State (Jr., F)
Spiro Pliakos, Detroit Mercy (Jr., F)
Nick Moon, Milwaukee (Jr., F)
Kendan Anderson, Valparaiso (Sr., F)
Francesco Saporito, Milwaukee (So., MF)
Jackson Dietrich, Wright State (So., MF)
AJ Paterson, Wright State (Jr., MF)
Andre Baires, Green Bay (Fr., D)
Jon Stadler, Milwaukee (Jr., D)
Adrian Graham, Valparaiso (Sr., D)
Nico Campbell, Valparaiso (Sr., GK)
 
All-Freshman Team
Mertcan Akar, Belmont (GK)
Eli Crognale, Belmont (MF)
Lawrence Karpeh, Cleveland State (F)
Andre Baires, Green Bay (D)
Evan Conway, Milwaukee (F)
Nyal Higgins, Oakland (D)
Nebosja Popovic, Oakland (MF)
Cristian Sanchez, UIC (D)
Alex Cervantes, UIC (F)
Steffen Pulinx, Valparaiso (D)
Austin Kinley, Wright State (D)