GREENVILLE, S.C. – The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) announced its men's soccer All-Central Region Team as the top-ranked Evangels raked in the honors. Senior forward Jack Price was selected as the region's Player of the Year, head coach Neil Hilton was named the region's Co-Coach of the Year and overall, six MACU standouts were named to the 22-player team.
Five of MACU's six players earned First Team honors with Price, freshman midfielder Yasha Schaerer, senior defender Kareem Williams, junior forward and defender Kolby Godbolt and junior goalkeeper Claudio Fuentealba being selected to the First Team while junior forward Charlie Betts was tabbed to the Second Team.
In his first year at the helm of the Evangels, Hilton guided MACU to its first undefeated season as the Evangels closed out the year with a 17-0-4 overall record before tragically seeing the team's magical year end in a tough 7-6 shootout result after playing Bellevue to a 3-3 draw in the NAIA Tournament 2nd Round at the Dill Soccer Field on Nov. 18.
During the immaculate season, the Evangels picked up some sensational results, going 6-0-3 against teams ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 poll, including a 4-0-3 mark against teams that advanced to the Round of 16 in the NAIA.
In his third season with MACU, Price was the leader of the Evangels offensive attack, netting a career-high 12 goals, six of which were game-winners and dishing out six assists for 30 points, tying the ninth-most goals and the ninth-most points for any MACU player in the NAIA Era (2007-present).
Over the course of his MACU career, the London, England native owns several top five marks in the career record book, including: goals (27, 3rd), game-winning goals (10, 2nd), assists (16, 4th), points (70, 3rd), shooting percentage (.227, 3rd) and shots on-goal (67, 4th).
In his first season with MACU, Schaerer has the top vote-getter amongst all midfielders in the region, finishing the season with five goals and dishing out six assists for the third-most points on the team with six. The Langnau am Albis, Switzerland native was an incredible possession mid for the Evangels as he was the center-piece of MACU's offensive attack.
Helping lead an elite level defense that conceded just 0.81 goals per game, Williams played an integral role in both MACU's left-back and left center-back position. The Kingston, Jamaica native logged the most minutes for MACU over the course of the season at 1726, averaging 86.3 minutes per game while finishing with two goals and five assists out of the back. In two years at MACU, the team captain logged 3631 high-quality minutes over 43 games.
Playing in both the left-forward and left-back position, Godbolt was an impact player in both positions for the Evangels in his first year with the program. The Iowa Lakes, Iowa native was the team's second-leading scorer in 2023, netting eight goals and dishing out four assists for 20 points.
Rounding out the First Team honorees, Fuentealba had one of the strongest seasons for a MACU goalkeeper in the NAIA Era, wrapping up the year with a 15-0-3 record in 18 starts, recording a 0.77 goals allowed average, made 47 saves for a .770 save percentage and tallied eight shutouts. His 0.77 GAA ranks as the third-lowest for a MACU keeper in the NAIA Era while his 15 wins and eight shutouts also rank as the fourth-most.
The last of MACU's honorees, Betts made a big impact in the Evangels' offensive attack in 2023, netting seven goals and turning in two assists for 16 points. His lone game-winner of the season was a huge won for MACU as he earned one of the NAIA's Top Plays of the Week after scoring the game-winner with two seconds left in MACU's 2-1 win at Wayland Baptist on Oct. 17.
As a team, Mid-America Christian finished the season ranked as the No. 1 team in both the NAIA and NCCAA, won the program's third-straight Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title with an 8-0-1 league mark as well as became the first four-straight winner of the SAC Tournament title after defeating Science & Arts 3-1 on Nov. 9.
