Jenkins Named UMAC Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year

Nov 7, 2012

Northland Sports Online

Just a day after Kelsey Kehtel (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) was named the Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year, St. Scholastica’s Andrew Jenkins (Cardiff, Wales/Whitchurch HS) was named the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference’s (UMAC) Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year; it was announced on Wednesday.

Jenkins was one of six Saints to earn first team All-UMAC accolades this year. The other five are senior Erik Trochimchuk (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Hammarskjold HS), juniors Joe Watt (London, England/North West Kent College), Rob Johnson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) and Caleb Yurek (Northfield, Minn./Northfield HS) along with fellow sophomore Ben Cullen (Clough, Northern Ireland/Shimna Integrated College). Junior goalkeeper Adam Hewitt (Richmond Hill, Ontario/St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic HS) was named to the second team. Erik Graham (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School) was named the Sportsmanship team.

Jenkins had the greatest goal-scoring year in the program’s 35-year history with 25 goals. The previous record was held by Chris DeMorett who scored 22 goals during the 1993 season. Jenkins had 10 more goals than anybody else in the conference this season and also led the league with 59 points, which is also a program record and currently best in all of NCAA Division III. This is the first UMAC accolades for the sophomore.

Trochimchuk also earns UMAC accolades for the first time in his career. He was second on the team and in the conference with 15 goals and was third with nine assists. Trochimchuk scored the game-winner in Saturday’s UMAC Tournament championship victory over the University of Minnesota Morris.

Watt earns first team All-UMAC laurels for the first time after being named a second team choice in 2011. Much like Jenkins, Watt had a record-breaking season for the Saints with a program record 26 assists this season. The previous record he broke in the 14th game of the season. His nation-leading 26 assists are tied for the second-most all-time in NCAA Division III and four shy of the record. He also scored 11 goals this season, which gave him 48 points, second-most in the UMAC this season.

Johnson receives UMAC accolades for the first time in his career. The Duluth native and Duluth East grad finished second in the conference this season with 11 points and fifth in the league with 29 points. The 11 assists are currently the eighth-most in the country this season. In a victory over Northland this year, Johnson set a program record with 11 points, scoring four goals and adding three assists.

Yurek earns first team All-UMAC honors for the first time in his career. Yurek was a second team selection as a sophomore and an honorable mention selection as a freshman. Yurek spearheaded a defense that held opponents to the fewest goals allowed (15) amongst conference members.

Cullen is the final player to earn first team honors. Cullen, who is receiving UMAC accolades for the first time in his career, was third in the conference with eight assists in league games. He was also a key member of the back four for the Saints.

In his first year as a starter, goalkeeper Adam Hewitt (Richmond Hill, Ontario/St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic HS) led the conference with a 0.70 goals-against-average, .833 save percentage, 16 wins and eight shutouts. Hewitt was named the UMAC Tournament MVP after stopping seven shots in shutting out Minnesota Morris on Saturday.

Scott DeVries of Minnesota Morris was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Bethany Lutheran’s Benjamin Moldstad was the Rookie of the Year and Northwestern’s Greg Wheaton was the Coach of the Year.

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