2021 D3soccer.com Men's All-America teams

(l. to r.) Forward of the Year German Giammattei, Midfielder of the Year Peder Olsen, Defender of the Year Richard Gillespie, and Goalkeeper of the Year Ryan Grady. Photos (l. to r.): Foley-Photography, Dr. Jeff Nelson, Norman Cohen, Foley-Photography

With the 2021 season in the rearview mirror, D3soccer.com announces its men's All-America teams. This marks the eleventh year that D3soccer.com has recognized the top men's and women's players from across the nation. The teams were chosen by D3soccer.com staff, informed by analytics, input from Division III soccer coaches and other knowledgeable sources, and our first-hand viewing. From a pool of over five hundred men’s candidates who had earned all-conference honors, approximately 100 players were identified and “short-listed” for All-America consideration. Our men’s teams were drafted from this elite group of student-athletes.

The three men's All-America teams are comprised of 33 total players representing twenty-one schools and thirteen different conferences. Ten different teams have multiple selections—the highest total in the history of the awards—but oddly each national finalist only has one representative. Tufts and Washington & Lee led the way with three players named. Four teams—Alvernia, North Central (Ill.), Randolph and St. Olaf—are represented on our teams for the first time. The NESCAC, home to the national champion, runner-up and two more quarterfinalists, led all conferences with seven selections followed by the UAA and ODAC with four each. The seven forwards selected are the fewest ever while the twelve midfielders match the high for the position.

Seven of this year's honorees are repeat selections, including a repeat player of the year and a three-time All-American. The latter, North Park senior midfielder Peder Olsen, becomes the eleventh men’s player to be honored three times by D3soccer.com. Two freshmen made our teams—the fifth and sixth ever—as well as three sophomores playing their first season due to the Covid-19 pandemic cancelling the 2020 season. Trinity (Tx.) forward Michael Meese becomes the first freshman to be selected to the first team. Nine honorees delayed their graduation or played as graduate students to use their final year of eligibility following the lost 2020 season.

For the second time in a row, Amherst's German Giammattei is the D3soccer.com Forward of the Year. In the eleven-year history of our awards, Giammattei is the third men's player to garner repeat top honors at his position. The senior played with a huge target on his back after an explosive sophomore campaign in 2019. With defenses trying to stop him at all costs, Giammattei tallied 12 goals and 4 assists, nearly every one meaningful. Nine of his goals were either tiebreakers or game-tying, and he scored or assisted eight game-winning goals. As he did two years ago, Giammattei led the nation's toughest conference, the NESCAC, in goals scored, points, and game-winners and earned first team all-conference honors. The team captain helped lead Amherst to their second consecutive national final. He ensured the Mammoths advanced to the Final Four when he scored a hattrick in the Sweet 16—with an assist on the team's other goal—followed by the game's lone goal in the quarterfinals against NESCAC-rival Middlebury who entered the game as the toughest defense to score on. In December, Giammattei was recognized by the United Soccer Coaches as their second-ever two-time Division III National Player of the Year.

The D3soccer.com Midfielder of the Year is Peder Olsen from North Park. A repeat first team selection to go along with third team honors in 2018, the senior captain was instrumental in the Vikings capturing their fourth-straight CCIW regular season championship and advancing to the NCAA Elite 8. After registering 19 goals and 8 assists in 2019, Olsen went one better—literally—on both counts this year with 20 goals and 9 assists, good for 49 points (7th nationally). Not only did he match North Park's single season record for goals scored, the Norwegian blew past program career marks for goals and assists. As the conference leader in goals and points for the third straight season, Olsen became a three-time CCIW Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year. After scoring in eleven different regular season games, the attacking midfielder pushed his team into the NCAA quarterfinals with a first round hattrick, a goal and assist in the second round versus UAA champion Washington U. and their nation-leading 0.37 GAA goals against average (entering the contest), and finally an 85th minute game-winner to break a scoreless deadlock with St. Olaf in the Sweet 16.

Richard Gillespie of Chicago is the D3soccer.com Defender of the Year, teaming with fellow junior Griffin Wada to form the nation's best center back pairing. Despite playing one of the toughest schedules in Division III, the Maroon defense ranked fourth in goals conceded (0.47 GAA), posted 13 shutouts (twice each against high-scoring Calvin and North Park), and only conceded multiple goals in a game once. Chicago trailed for less than 91 minutes all season (the least by percentage in the nation) despite a low 1.32 goal scoring average. Credit goes to Gillespie & Co. who not only held opponents to just 7.0 shot attempts on average (5th best) but did even better limiting quality looks as reflected in a nation-leading 2.29 shots on goal allowed per game. They were the stingiest defense in the NCAA tournament, not conceding a single goal until the 18th minute of overtime in the national semifinal. Gillespie also contributed offensively with five goals and a pair of assists, all but one coming with the game still scoreless, often in the second half. The versatile defender was highly effective with both his head (2g, 1a) and feet (3g) inside the eighteen on set pieces.

The D3soccer.com Goalkeeper of the Year honor goes to Middlebury sophomore Ryan Grady. After a standout freshman year that garnered him a spot on our All-America third team, Grady basically matched the standard he set in 2019 with a .882 save percentage (vs. .890) and 0.41 GAA (vs. 0.49). His save rate was best among keepers who played the entire season despite plying his trade in the strongest conference in the country. First team All-NESCAC honors were earned amidst a handful of top-level rival netminders. Ever-present for the Panthers (playing all but 15 minutes), Grady had a hand in 13 shutouts overall, four of which required staying perfect into or through double overtime and another four preserving narrow 1-0 victories. A low 1.38 team goal scoring average placed a lot of pressure on Grady and the defense as 14 games were decided by a goal or less. But with Grady’s shot-stopping behind a stingy backline, Middlebury finished with the second lowest goals against average in the nation and only allowed multiple goals in a game once. Much of the credit for Middlebury earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and advancing to the Elite 8 goes to Grady and the defense.

Honorable mentions to Travis Wall and Mike Singleton, who guided St. Olaf and Washington & Lee to program-best seasons, but the 2021 D3soccer.com Coach of the Year award goes to Connecticut College's Rueben Burk. In just his third year (second season) at the helm, Burk guided the Camels to not only the program's first-ever NCAA championship, but also the school's first team national title. Program-defining seasons don't usually start with a loss nor NCAA title runs with a scoreless draw, but credit to Burk for keeping his squad looking forward, not back, as they emerged from the shadow of the NESCAC heavyweights. Connecticut won its first-ever NESCAC regular season title and reached the NESCAC Tournament final for the first time, equaling the program record of 14 wins in a season set way back in the 70's in the process. After a first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2017 and a first-ever NCAA win in 2018, Connecticut's upward trajectory on the national stage continued under Burk with advancement to the Elite 8 in his first year only to top that with a run to the Final Four and title match this season. It certainly wasn't easy or always pretty, but the effort, attitude and resilience the Camels displayed for Burk produced the program's best season. Their NCAA quarterfinal victory epitomized that when they twice came back from a goal down to defending champion and NESCAC rival Tufts before scoring four straight goals and then hanging on for a nervy 5-4 win. It took a come-from-behind overtime victory in the semifinals and escaping another NESCAC shadow—Amherst—with a double-overtime penalty shootout win in the final to lift the walnut and bronze. The champions finished 19-4-1 and set a new standard for the program.