KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) held its Division I Men's Soccer Awards banquet on Sunday night and for the first time in program history, the MACU Men's Soccer program had its first ever recipient of the Kyle Rote Jr. Character Award with junior defender Lucas Catosso collecting the esteemed honor while 14 Evangels earned NCCAA Scholar-Athlete accolades.

The Kyle Rote Jr. Award is an honor that is apart of the NCCAA's Game Plan 4 LIFE Character Award series that is presented to a nominated student-athlete that best exemplifies the four Biblical traits of Love, Integrity, Faith and Excellence.

A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Catosso made his impact immediately when he joined the squad this past spring as he was selected as a Team Captain in his first season of action on the squad. An All-Sooner Athletic Conference First Team selection, Catosso helped lead the Evangels to their fourth-straight SAC regular season title while seeing action in 20 games, netting two goals and two assists over the fourth-most minutes on the team (1296) while also commanding a defense that allowed just 0.86 goals per game.

Off the pitch, Catosso is an incredible student, garnering NAIA and NCCAA Scholar-Athlete honors with a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average (GPA) while majoring in Business and Ethics while also serving within Bible Study and campus ministry at MACU.

Catosso was also one of 14 recipients of the NCCAA Scholar-Athlete honor, an award that is presented to a student-athlete who is garnering at least a 3.40 GPA, at least a junior by academic standing and has completed at least one semester at their affiliated institution, which was tied for the most honorees at the Division I level. See the list below for all of MACU's Scholar-Athlete recipients…

Elijah Bates
Lucas Catosso
Oscar Gallardo
Francois Geris-Rey
Marli Greaves
Emanuele Grumo
Caleb Marsh
Pietro Musso
Enzo Nogue
Nikabou Ogane-Bamba
Akira Ono
Uviwe Qasha
Filippo Ruffi
Ayden Thompson