KANSAS CITY - Austin Ricci and Nyal Higgins were named to the 2016 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Great Lakes Regional Team as third team selections. This marks the second consecutive year Ricci has garnered Great Lakes Region honors as he was a second team selection last season.

"This is a very deserving honor and great recognition for both Austin and Nyal to receive recognition by the NSCAA as two of the top players in the Great Lakes region that includes the Big East, Mid-American and Horizon League, which are all great soccer conferences," said head coach Eric Pogue. "Both players were instrumental in our team's success throughout the season from the start as a new and rebuilding team and especially in the latter when we really hit our stride in conference play leading into the conference tournament. The future is very bright for Oakland soccer and these two young men will be two key pieces in the foundation of getting us back to a Horizon League title and NCAA Tournament in 2017."

Ricci, a junior from Newmarket, Ontario, led the team in assists (5) and points (15) which tied for first and fourth respectively in conference only statistics. He also scored the game-winning goal against Green Bay in the quarter final round of the 2016 Horizon League Tournament giving the Golden Grizzlies a 1-0 win to advance into the semifinals (Nov. 7).

Higgins, an Ajax Ontario, Canada native, was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team after starting 16 games with two goals from his defensive position while anchoring the back line to three shutouts on the season. He also tallied his first career goal against Northern Kentucky (Sept. 10) and scored the game-winning goal at Detroit Mercy (Sept. 21) giving the Golden Grizzlies their third consecutive Metro Series win over the Titans.

2016 NSCAA NCAA Division I Men's All-Great Lakes Region

Third Team
GK-Drew Shepherd, Jr.-Western Michigan
D-Nyal Higgins, Fr.,-Oakland
D-Brad Ruhaak, Sr.,-Akron
D-Joao Serrano, Fr.,-Providence
D-Jake Stovall, Sr.,-Wright State
M-Andreas Bartosinski, Jr.-Villanova
M-Jackson Dietrich, So.-Wright State
M-Danny Griffin, Fr.-Providence
M-Luka Prpa, Fr.-Marquette
F-Austin Ricci, Jr.-Oakland
F-Max Todd, So.-UIC

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