2022 D3soccer.com Men's All-America teams

(l. to r.) Forward of the Year Matt McDonald, Midfielder of the Year Marvin Sibanda, Co-Defender of the Year Griffin Wada, and Goalkeeper of the Year Ben Diffley (not pictured: Co-Defender of the Year Richard Gillespie). Photos (l. to r.): Messiah Athletics, Carol Hill, Norman Cohen/Diamond Photography, Victor Newman Photography

With the 2022 season becoming a distant memory, D3soccer.com belatedly announces its men's All-America teams. This marks the twelfth 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 based primarily on 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 institutions and fifteen different conferences. Nine different schools have multiple selections with national champion Chicago, undefeated Messiah and Washington & Lee leading the way with three players named. Two schools—St. Thomas (Texas) and UW-Eau Claire—are represented on our men's teams for the first time. The UAA led all conferences with six selections followed by the NESCAC with five.

Nine of this year's honorees are repeat selections, including a repeat player of the year, but there are no three-time award winners which likely was impacted by the season lost to the Covid-19 pandemic. One repeat All-American, Messiah's Luke Groothoff, went an unprecedented three years between awards due to a pair of injury-shortened seasons sandwiched around the canceled season. The first team contains six repeat honorees which matches the high set in 2014. Seniors, fifth-years and graduate students earned twenty-five spots with six juniors and two sophomores rounding out the teams. That ties for the second fewest sophomores and total underclassmen honored in the twelve-year history of the awards.

As a positive reflection of the Division III student-athlete philosophy, eight of the thirty-three players were also named to the CSC (formerly CoSIDA) 2022 Academic All-America NCAA Division III men’s soccer teams: Andino, Cross, Gillespie, Groothoff, Lent-Koop, Vatne, Wada, and Yates. Eight others joins them on the Academic All-District teams.

Messiah's Matt McDonald is the D3soccer.com Forward of the Year and the eighth Messiah player to garner player of the year honors. As the spearhead of the nation's most potent attack, McDonald was tireless and relentless in running at defenses, using pace and physicality to his advantage. His 23 goals and 52 points were both first (tie) in the country helping undefeated Messiah to top marks with 4.14 goals per game and 91 total goals scored. The senior converted nearly a quarter of his shots with well over half his attempts being on frame. In the first six games of the season, McDonald already matched his 2021 tally of eight goals and would score in 17 of 22 games. He scored seven game-opening goals and another two go-ahead goals. Of his six assists, two set-up opening scores and another a game-winner. The MAC Commonwealth named McDonald their Offensive Player of the Year while the United Soccer Coaches voted him Player of the Year and a First Team Scholar All-American.

The D3soccer.com Midfielder of the Year is Marvin Sibanda from St. Lawrence who is named to our teams for the second year in a row. Despite being one the most skillful playmakers in the country, Sibanda was also given a lot of defensive responsibility making the talented Zimbabwean one of the most irreplaceable players in Division III. As a box-to-box midfielder, he covered a lot of ground as a ball-winner before launching attacks with superb passing and dribbling. The senior scored a team-leading 11 goals and was credited with 6 assists to drive the Saints' offensive. Sibanda assisted on the game-winning goal at regional rival Cortland State, scored the game's lone goal in the regular season finale to clinch the Liberty League's top seed, set up the lone score in the conference semifinal, and netted a hattrick in his last match on Sandy MacAllaster Field to power St. Lawrence to back-to-back Liberty League championships. Back-to-back conference Player of the Years plaudits were well deserved before being recognized by the United Soccer Coaches as a First Team All-American.

Teammates Griffin Wada and Richard Gillespie of Chicago are our D3soccer.com co-Defenders of the Year. Both worthy in their own right, this centerback pairing is among the best Division III has ever seen because of how well they complement each other. Wada brings leadership, organization and lockdown defense. Gillespie, our 2021 Defender of the Year, is versatile, able to play out of the back and dangerous on set pieces. Playing with skill, poise and confidence, the senior duo who began forming their partnership as freshmen in 2019 were the foundation of Chicago's first-ever national championship season. Despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, the Maroon defense held opponents to an 90-minute average of just 7.9 total shots and a miserly 2.7 shots on goals, the latter ranking second in the country. That contributed to the nation's seventh-best 0.47 goals against average and a nearly perfect season in which Chicago only trailed on two occasions for a total of 64 minutes. Three straight shutouts to finish the season earned the Maroons the national title that eluded them on three Final Four trips in the previous four years. Offensively, Gillespie contributed 2 goals and 3 assist while Wada provided a pair of assists. Both were named to the All-UAA First Team, Gillespie garnered United Soccer Coaches All-American honors, and both were CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-Americans.

The D3soccer.com Goalkeeper of the Year honor goes to Williams junior Ben Diffley. Given that the Ephs managed less shots than their opponents and only averaged a single goal per game (1.08 GSA), the room for error was slim for Diffley and his backline. But the 6'5" goalkeeper was up to the task, coming up big—figuratively and literally—to preserve ties and narrow victories as the 10-2-11 Ephs improbably advanced to the national title game. Despite playing a tough schedule and typically facing a dozen or more shots per game, half on target, Diffley managed to post a .51 goals against average (10th nationally) because of his excellent .885 save percentage that ranked third in the country. His 13 1/2 shutouts—four of which came in the NCAA tournament—were second most among his peers. Williams won two penalty shootouts with Diffley between the pipes, saving one shot in the NESCAC quarterfinal and crucially saving two in the NCAA second round to oust undefeated Messiah. He garnered All-NESCAC and United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors.

Honorable mention to Steffen Siebert who game-planned and guided Williams to an NCAA berth and the national final despite a very limited offense, but the 2022 D3soccer.com Coach of the Year award goes to Chicago's Julianne Sitch, the first female head coach in history to lead an NCAA men's soccer program (any division) to a national title. Sitch's first season as a collegiate head coach and first stint coaching men could hardly have gone any better: an undefeated season, the nation's highest winning percentage, a UAA championship, and a program-first national title. Under Sitch, the talented Maroons played with increased patience and confidence on the way to setting a new program record with 22 wins. Her midfield and defense controlled the tempo and imposed their will on opponents while the offense provided all the goals needed without losing shape or leaving themselves vulnerable. With an unflappable defense, Chicago only conceded two goals in a game once, only trailed for 64 total minutes all season, and registered 13 shutouts while posting the nation's seventh best goal against average (0.47).