INDIANAPOLIS - Austin Ricci was named Horizon League Co-Offensive Player of the Year and garnered All-Horizon League first team honors with Matt Dudley. Shawn Claud Lawson, Raphael Reynolds and Jacob VanderLaan were named All-Horizon League second team while Nick Stack was an All-Freshman Team selection, as voted on the by league's 10 head coaches and announced by the league office on Monday.

"I think individual league awards are truly a reflection of how well the team did as a whole all season and it's nice for these six men to get honored for their individual talent", said head coach Eric Pogue. "They have all been working extremely hard since our season ended last November at MSU in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament to make sure that we as a team were successful this fall. Individual awards are great, but the only trophy that we are focused on gets awarded to the team on Saturday evening at UIC which is a repeat conference tournament title and trip back to the NCAA Tournament. It is no easy task in the Horizon League with these six talented teams so we will just stay focused on one day at a time and get ready for Thursday night in the semis. Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said it best, "Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character".

Ricci, a sophomore from Newmarket, Ontario, tied for the league-lead in goals (7) points (16) and also led in points-per game (1.00) and goals-per-game (.44) while ranking second in game-winning goals (3). Ricci was also named Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Aug.31-Sept. 6.

The marks the second consecutive year Dudley, a senior from Preston, England, has earned first team honors. All four of his goals were scored in Horizon League play which tied with Gerald Ben for the league lead in conference-only statistics while also ranking third in points (10). Dudley led the team in assists (3) and scored the game-winning goal over the University of Detroit Mercy earning two points for Oakland in the Metro Series Driving by Trinity Transportation.

Lawson, a senior from Toronto, Ontario, has also earned All-League honors in consecutive years playing a crucial role in controlling the midfield starting 15 of 16 games this season with 14 shots.

This is the first All-Horizon League award for Reynolds, a senior from Toronto, Ontario, who started all 16 games tying for third on the team with two assists from his defensive position while anchoring the backline to six shutouts.

This also marks the first All-Horizon League accolade for VanderLaan, a senior from Grand Haven, Mich. who started all 16 games anchoring the back line to six shutouts on the season. He also led the team in assists (3) including the game-winning assist in Oakland's overtime win against Valparaiso on Senior Night (Oct. 31).

Strack, a freshman from Fort Wayne, Ind., started 10 of 13 games as a member of the back line that posted six shutouts and didn't allow a goal over the span of 274:11 minutes during the season.

Oakland enters the 2015 Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship as the No. 2 seed and will play the winner of the No. 4 seed Cleveland State and No. 5 Detroit in a semifinal match on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Flames Field on the campus of UIC in Chicago, Ill.

First Team All-League
Spiro Pliakos, Detroit (So., F)
Austin Ricci, Oakland (So., F)
Jorge Alvarez, UIC (Sr., F)
Peguy Ngatcha, Wright State (Sr., F)
Matt Dudley, Oakland (Sr., MF)
Manny Chavez, UIC (Sr., MF)
Eric Lynch, Wright State (Sr., MF)
Sergio Manesio, Cleveland State (Jr., D)
Austin Dunn, Detroit ( Sr., D)
Thomas Villamil, UIC (Sr., D)
Nico Campbell, Valparaiso (Jr., GK)

Second Team All-League (12-member team due to a tie in voting)
Rashad Hyacenth, Belmont (So., F)
Jake Lagania, Cleveland State (So, F)
Tyler Moorman, Detroit (Jr., F)
Isiah Madrid, Valparaiso (Jr., F)
Dan Koniarczyk, Cleveland State (Jr., MF)
Audi Jepson, Green Bay (Jr., MF)
Shawn Claud Lawson, Oakland (Sr., MF)
Sam Deroy, Wright State (Jr., MF)
Anthony Torres, Belmont (Sr., D)
Raphael Reynolds, Oakland (Sr., D)
Jacob VanderLaan, Oakland (Sr., D)
AJ Fleak, Northern Kentucky (Sr., GK)

All-Freshman Team
Gianluca DiFranco, Cleveland State (F)
Tinashe Marowa, Milwaukee (F)
Max Todd, UIC (F)
Dennis Kluba, Belmont (MF)
Francesco Saporito, Milwaukee (MF)
Bastian Beckers, Northern Kentucky (MF)
Nestor Garcia, UIC (MF)
Jackson Dietrich, Wright State (MF)
Nick Strack, Oakland (D)
Mike Jimenez, UIC (D)
Eric Hutton, Wright State (D)

Freshman of the Year: Jackson Dietrich, Wright State
Goalkeeper of the Year: Nico Campbell, Valparaiso
Co-Offensive Players of the Year: Austin Ricci, Oakland & Jorge Alvarez, UIC
Defensive Player of the Year: Sergio Manesio, Cleveland State
Player of the Year: Manny Chavez, UIC
Coach of the Year: Sean Phillips, UIC

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