CLEVELAND — After a historic season for the Saginaw Valley State University men's soccer team, four Cardinals landed on the 2022 Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2 CCA) All-Midwest Region Team, it was announced on Tuesday.
Saginaw Valley swept the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships en route to its first NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship appearance since 2018 and eighth overall. The Cardinals finished with its first unbeaten season (14-0-5) in program history, including a 9-0-3 GLIAC mark and the top seed in the conference postseason tourney.
Jonathan Monney, who was named the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Year and to the All-GLIAC First Team, headlines the Cardinals on the D2 CCA all-region team. The sophomore forward out of Kitchener, Ontario, earned Midwest Region Player of the Year laurels after racking up 16 goals (5th in NCAA II) and 37 total points (7th in NCAA II) in his first season wearing Red and White after transferring from Contestoga College. He netted six game-winning goals for SVSU.
Senior defenders Benjamin Adamson (Hull, England), who also was named the GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year, and Robbie Baker (Brisbane, Australia) joined Monney as first-team all-region standouts. Adamson notched a career-high three goals, while Baker dished a team-high six assists and totaled eight points—both career highs. The All-GLIAC First Team duo helped a stingy SVSU defense record eight shutouts, allowed just 20 goals in 19 games, and ranked nationally in goal differential (16th, +26) and goals-against average (39th, 1.040 GAA).
All-GLIAC First Team star Phila Dlamini, a senior midfielder from Durban, South Africa, also represented SVSU on the D2 CCA all-region team on the second unit. Dlamini distributed four assists to help a SVSU offense rank 11th in NCAA II with 2.16 assists and 7.00 points per game. The Cardinals also were 12th in scoring offense at 2.42 goals per outing.