Men's Soccer Season in Review

---

SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist men's soccer team finished the 2016 campaign in the semifinal round of the National Christian College Athletic Association National Championship. In the final NCCAA poll, the Bison were ranked No. 5 after posting a 14-9-2 overall record.
 
OBU competed in the Great American Conference for just the second season, finishing with a 5-1 conference record to claim the first GAC regular season championship in program history. The Bison hosted the GAC Tournament, defeating Southern Nazarene in the semifinal before finishing as runners-up to Harding.
 
Senior Vicente Castillo earned his second consecutive GAC Offensive Player of the Year nod, and defender Michael Stewart was named GAC Freshman of the Year. Castillo was named to the D2CAA Men's Soccer All-Central Region First Team. He also earned D2CCA All-America Honorable Mention, becoming the first Bison in program history to earn All-America status since Oklahoma Baptist began the transition process to NCAA Division II.
 
Castillo and Andrew Thomsen were selected to the District 7 CoSIDA Academic All-District men's soccer first team. Thomsen was also named a GAC Crafton Tull Distinguished Scholar Student-Athlete.  
 
Five players were named to the All-GAC First Team, including Castillo, Thiago Dos Santos, Jesus Andrade, Jonathan Martinez, and David Estrada. The Bison earned 12 GAC Player of the Week honors, including back-to-back weeks where OBU swept the Offensive, Defensive, and Goalkeeper of the Week awards.
 
Dos Santos and Luis Romero earned NCCAA National Player of the Week awards. Romero claimed the honor on Sept. 27, while Dos Santos was named on Nov. 11. Estrada and Dos Santos were named First Team NCCAA Division I Men's Soccer All-America selections at the end of the season.
 
Great goalkeeping was the calling card for this Bison team for much of the season. Thomas Ackernecht and Colin Spencer strung together a program-record five consecutive shutouts from Sept. 24 – Oct. 12. OBU finished with a plus-20 goal differential for the season, outscoring opponents 69-49.
 
Freshman forward Thiago Dos Santos set a new single match goals record for the Bison, netting five goals against Houghton College during pool play at the NCCAA National Championship. He also broke the record for the most points in a single match with 10.
 
After a dominating 6-0 victory over Central Christian College in the NCCAA Central Regional in Lakewood, Colorado, OBU defeated Southwestern Christian 4-2 in penalty kicks to claim the Bison's first regional championship. The Bison split two pool play matches at the NCCAA National Championship in Kissimmee, Florida, and moved on to the semifinal round. In a hard fought match, the Bison fell to Southwestern Christian in the third meeting between the schools this season.
 
The Bison will graduate six seniors from the 2016 season, but look to return to form with a young core in 2017.