2023 USC All America Teams

[Kuiper]

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/2023-united-soccer-coaches-ncaa-division-iii-mens-and-womens-all-america-teams-announced/

A couple of observations that may only be of interest to me:

1.  No strong bias in favor of certain leagues

There is only one player from NESCAC on the first team (Sr. D Max Clivio from Tufts) and zero from the UAA.  In total, NESCAC has 4 players on the three teams and UAA and Centennial both have 3.  Voting is structured to ensure regional representation, so this isn't a huge surprise, but the NEWMAC, SCIAC, and SCAC have 2 each, while the NCAC and OAC have 1 each.

2.  Some (surprising and not so surprising) schools have multiple All-Americans

It's interesting to see some of the teams who have more All-Americans than entire leagues.  Some are who you might expect, such as Calvin and Mary Washington both with 3 and Franklin & Marshall, St. Olaf, SUNY Oneonta, Messiah, and Montclair all with 2.  Others are a little more surprising, such as Aurora University with 2.

3.  Underclassmen need not bother checking the list

Heavy bias for Seniors and Juniors (and grad students).  The lone sophomore on any of the three teams is Forward Nathan Prex from Lebanon Valley College who made the first team with 20 goals and 5 assists.

4.  Region X's selections are interesting (a Go WEST observation that I'm positing here to keep this together in one place)

Jack Manke (Texas Lutheran - 1st team)
Evan Karp (Occidental - 2nd team)
Jarrette Barajas (Redlands - 2nd team)
Chen Adjei (Trinity - 2nd team)

Manke is a fun player to watch and really covered a multitude of issues for TLU as a two-way midfielder, but I'm not sure he's a first team All American.  Chen Adjei is also great, but I'm not sure 8 goals and 6 assists on a team with Michael Meese also available to pull away defensive attention is 2nd team All-American.  Karp might have a better claim, but I'm not sure about Barajas.  Perhaps he was considered the best ball-dominant/scoring MF in Region X, but I actually think Cal Tech's Etienne Casanova was better than him in the SCIAC because of his speed with the ball at his feet.  Casanova also had the same number of goals and more assists while playing a ton more minutes than Barajas in two fewer games (because Cal Tech didn't qualify for the SCIAC playoffs).

[Kuiper]

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/2023-united-soccer-coaches-ncaa-division-iii-mens-and-womens-all-america-teams-announced/

A couple of observations that may only be of interest to me:

1.  No strong bias in favor of certain leagues

There is only one player from NESCAC on the first team (Sr. D Max Clivio from Tufts) and zero from the UAA.  In total, NESCAC has 4 players on the three teams and UAA and Centennial both have 3.  Voting is structured to ensure regional representation, so this isn't a huge surprise, but the NEWMAC, SCIAC, and SCAC have 2 each, while the NCAC and OAC have 1 each.

2.  Some (surprising and not so surprising) schools have multiple All-Americans

It's interesting to see some of the teams who have more All-Americans than entire leagues.  Some are who you might expect, such as Calvin and Mary Washington both with 3 and Franklin & Marshall, St. Olaf, SUNY Oneonta, Messiah, and Montclair all with 2.  Others are a little more surprising, such as Aurora University with 2.

3.  Underclassmen need not bother checking the list

Heavy bias for Seniors and Juniors (and grad students).  The lone sophomore on any of the three teams is Forward Nathan Prex from Lebanon Valley College who made the first team with 20 goals and 5 assists.

4.  Region X's selections are interesting (a Go WEST observation that I'm positing here to keep this together in one place)

Jack Manke (Texas Lutheran - 1st team)
Evan Karp (Occidental - 2nd team)
Jarrette Barajas (Redlands - 2nd team)
Chen Adjei (Trinity - 2nd team)

Manke is a fun player to watch and really covered a multitude of issues for TLU as a two-way midfielder, but I'm not sure he's a first team All American.  Chen Adjei is also great, but I'm not sure 8 goals and 6 assists on a team with Michael Meese also available to pull away defensive attention is 2nd team All-American.  Karp might have a better claim, but I'm not sure about Barajas.  Perhaps he was considered the best ball-dominant/scoring MF in Region X, but I actually think Cal Tech's Etienne Casanova was better than him in the SCIAC because of his speed with the ball at his feet.  Casanova also had the same number of goals and more assists while playing a ton more minutes than Barajas in two fewer games (because Cal Tech didn't qualify for the SCIAC playoffs).

One more observation that may only be of interest to me

5.  Second year in a row that an NACC GK with a less than obvious case for recognition is named a USC All-American

Last year, it was Puma Galven, a 5'8" GK from Wisconsin Lutheran who split halves the first part of the season and became a full-time starter in the 9th game of the season, was named 3rd team All American by the USC.  At least he had a .67 GAA and a .781 save %.

This year, Jalen Depenbrock of Aurora College was named 2nd team All-American.  He had a 1.32 GAA, the worst of his 5 year career other than the shortened covid season, and a .761 save %.  Although he had one of the statistically worst seasons of his college career, his team had a good season, finishing 14-3-4, but it was not a dramatic improvement from 2022 when it finished 10-4-6 and he had a lower GAA of 1.16 and a better save % of .827.  Maybe he was great at organizing the defense, distributing the ball, claiming crosses, and all of the other things not captured by stats, but it seems odd that for the second year in a row that the choice of a GK from the NACC as an All American leaves me scratching my head.  I've got to figure out who is the GK coach from an NACC school who is stuffing the ballot box for his conference's goalkeepers.  It's not like the NACC is a juggernaut conference where the offenses are so strong that any GK who can survive a season between the pipes deserves a medal.

Incidentally, if you are planning to place an early bet on next year's USC All American GKs, keep your eye on Freshman Andrik Vadaurri of Rockford.  Depenbrock was first team All NACC GK this year and Puma Galven was second team All NACC.  They both graduate (unless Galvan stays a Covid year) and Vidaurri was named Honorable Mention All NACC GK this year.  At 5'9" with a 1.88 GAA and a .731 save %, he fits the profile for what the USC is looking for in top goalkeepers (to be fair, Rockford is at least a weak team where I expect the GK really can stand on his head in many games while facing a ton of shots and still give up lots of goals - Vadaurri faced an impressive 299 shots this year while Depenbrock faced 220 and Galvan faced 161).

[College Soccer Observer]

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/2023-united-soccer-coaches-ncaa-division-iii-mens-and-womens-all-america-teams-announced/

A couple of observations that may only be of interest to me:

1.  No strong bias in favor of certain leagues

There is only one player from NESCAC on the first team (Sr. D Max Clivio from Tufts) and zero from the UAA.  In total, NESCAC has 4 players on the three teams and UAA and Centennial both have 3.  Voting is structured to ensure regional representation, so this isn't a huge surprise, but the NEWMAC, SCIAC, and SCAC have 2 each, while the NCAC and OAC have 1 each.

2.  Some (surprising and not so surprising) schools have multiple All-Americans

It's interesting to see some of the teams who have more All-Americans than entire leagues.  Some are who you might expect, such as Calvin and Mary Washington both with 3 and Franklin & Marshall, St. Olaf, SUNY Oneonta, Messiah, and Montclair all with 2.  Others are a little more surprising, such as Aurora University with 2.

3.  Underclassmen need not bother checking the list

Heavy bias for Seniors and Juniors (and grad students).  The lone sophomore on any of the three teams is Forward Nathan Prex from Lebanon Valley College who made the first team with 20 goals and 5 assists.

4.  Region X's selections are interesting (a Go WEST observation that I'm positing here to keep this together in one place)

Jack Manke (Texas Lutheran - 1st team)
Evan Karp (Occidental - 2nd team)
Jarrette Barajas (Redlands - 2nd team)
Chen Adjei (Trinity - 2nd team)

Manke is a fun player to watch and really covered a multitude of issues for TLU as a two-way midfielder, but I'm not sure he's a first team All American.  Chen Adjei is also great, but I'm not sure 8 goals and 6 assists on a team with Michael Meese also available to pull away defensive attention is 2nd team All-American.  Karp might have a better claim, but I'm not sure about Barajas.  Perhaps he was considered the best ball-dominant/scoring MF in Region X, but I actually think Cal Tech's Etienne Casanova was better than him in the SCIAC because of his speed with the ball at his feet.  Casanova also had the same number of goals and more assists while playing a ton more minutes than Barajas in two fewer games (because Cal Tech didn't qualify for the SCIAC playoffs).

I find it quite curious that the second team goalkeeper from Region VIII gets 2nd team All American. 

Here are the stats for the three all-Americans and the other first choice keepers from each Region.  The first three are the all-Americans.  Tell me how the stats for the second one listed in any way compare with the others on this list.  I have left names off the discussion so people can make judgments without factoring in reputation.

GAA   Shutouts   Save Pct   Games vs NCAA tournament teams
0.71        9              0.839   7   
1.34        3              0.752   4   
0.48      13              0.883   4   
0.67      11              0.844   8   
0.68        9              0.824   9   
0.69        9              0.808   5   
0.7      11              0.873   10   
0.79        7              0.857   3   
0.89        8              0.764   9   
0.97        7              0.793   10   
1.19        1              0.733   3   

[Kuiper]

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/2023-united-soccer-coaches-ncaa-division-iii-mens-and-womens-all-america-teams-announced/

A couple of observations that may only be of interest to me:

1.  No strong bias in favor of certain leagues

There is only one player from NESCAC on the first team (Sr. D Max Clivio from Tufts) and zero from the UAA.  In total, NESCAC has 4 players on the three teams and UAA and Centennial both have 3.  Voting is structured to ensure regional representation, so this isn't a huge surprise, but the NEWMAC, SCIAC, and SCAC have 2 each, while the NCAC and OAC have 1 each.

2.  Some (surprising and not so surprising) schools have multiple All-Americans

It's interesting to see some of the teams who have more All-Americans than entire leagues.  Some are who you might expect, such as Calvin and Mary Washington both with 3 and Franklin & Marshall, St. Olaf, SUNY Oneonta, Messiah, and Montclair all with 2.  Others are a little more surprising, such as Aurora University with 2.

3.  Underclassmen need not bother checking the list

Heavy bias for Seniors and Juniors (and grad students).  The lone sophomore on any of the three teams is Forward Nathan Prex from Lebanon Valley College who made the first team with 20 goals and 5 assists.

4.  Region X's selections are interesting (a Go WEST observation that I'm positing here to keep this together in one place)

Jack Manke (Texas Lutheran - 1st team)
Evan Karp (Occidental - 2nd team)
Jarrette Barajas (Redlands - 2nd team)
Chen Adjei (Trinity - 2nd team)

Manke is a fun player to watch and really covered a multitude of issues for TLU as a two-way midfielder, but I'm not sure he's a first team All American.  Chen Adjei is also great, but I'm not sure 8 goals and 6 assists on a team with Michael Meese also available to pull away defensive attention is 2nd team All-American.  Karp might have a better claim, but I'm not sure about Barajas.  Perhaps he was considered the best ball-dominant/scoring MF in Region X, but I actually think Cal Tech's Etienne Casanova was better than him in the SCIAC because of his speed with the ball at his feet.  Casanova also had the same number of goals and more assists while playing a ton more minutes than Barajas in two fewer games (because Cal Tech didn't qualify for the SCIAC playoffs).

I find it quite curious that the second team goalkeeper from Region VIII gets 2nd team All American. 

Here are the stats for the three all-Americans and the other first choice keepers from each Region.  The first three are the all-Americans.  Tell me how the stats for the second one listed in any way compare with the others on this list.  I have left names off the discussion so people can make judgments without factoring in reputation.

GAA   Shutouts   Save Pct   Games vs NCAA tournament teams
0.71        9              0.839   7   
1.34        3              0.752   4   
0.48      13              0.883   4   
0.67      11              0.844   8   
0.68        9              0.824   9   
0.69        9              0.808   5   
0.7      11              0.873   10   
0.79        7              0.857   3   
0.89        8              0.764   9   
0.97        7              0.793   10   
1.19        1              0.733   3

Our posts must have crossed.  I added a #5 on the list about the 2nd team GK from Aurora that is the previous post to yours.    What's crazier is that this is the second year in a row a GK from the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference is named by the USC as an All American where the record is really questionable in relation to other candidates.  It's bizarre.

[Hopkins92]

I'm just here for the Sean Fatiga recognition!

(Wonder if this dude knows I single-handedly got him on the list.)

((For those that don't know me/take things too seriously: I'm kidding.))

[EnmoreCat]

I understand the focus on stats, but I get rather bemused by the ones for keepers as it seems to me like the numbers published are a lot more than what I ever notice in the game.  Happy to hear from CSO & SC for their views, but I don't really care how many shots someone stops, but thinking about how they command their area, co-ordinate with the defence and actually repel dangerous shots, i.e. ones where the keeper is taken out of his comfort zone.  I don't think the stats help in any of those regards.

[Kuiper]

I understand the focus on stats, but I get rather bemused by the ones for keepers as it seems to me like the numbers published are a lot more than what I ever notice in the game.  Happy to hear from CSO & SC for their views, but I don't really care how many shots someone stops, but thinking about how they command their area, co-ordinate with the defence and actually repel dangerous shots, i.e. ones where the keeper is taken out of his comfort zone.  I don't think the stats help in any of those regards.

I mentioned all of that in my post (plus really good defenses make GKs look really good) and it would be lovely if the coaches actually considered it, but I'm guessing almost no one outside of their region who voted on these awards has ever even seen this GK play.  So, given that they are likely relying upon something else, the assumption is that they are relying upon stats and the votes of the coaches in that conference and region.  And the stats don't back up the votes, but maybe there's some of the other intangibles that you mentioned.

That's fine, but I would think the likelihood that the best GKs in the country would be located in two different teams in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference in consecutive years -- a league that has had no team advance past the first round of the tournament either year -- seems awfully low.

[soccerpapa]

And to think that a second team all region GK made all American before other 1st team all region players is even more interesting.....

My son played against several of these teams/all americans and I had to go back and see if they players actually played because i didnt remember any standout players.

My surprise omission is Nathan Donovan from UW Eau_Claire

[PaulNewman]

I never completely get the angst over these awards. To be fair, I've also never had a kid at risk of being named to an AA team...or even all-conference. I would also note that anyone who has ever been named an AA ANY year will, along with family, fans, and others, be able to refer to himself or herself as an AA for the rest of their lives. Very few are ever gonna be asked "well, but exactly how many times were you an AA"?

That said, there are always a few odd choices and we no longer have the D3soccer.com AA teams to "correct" the USC choices. I will say I think the USC does a better job with this overall than they do with polls. My immediate gut reaction is that aside from analyzing what teams players landed on 80-85% of the picks seem right or at least defensible.

It also seems unrealistic to think that a fair assessment can happen especially in D3 where there is no ESPN or other major coverage and there are teams many of us have never heard of  or know little about.

And yes to Nathan Donovan. I'll stop there so I don't get in more trouble!

[PaulNewman]

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/2023-united-soccer-coaches-ncaa-division-i-mens-and-womens-all-america-teams-announced/

Division 1 (Men's)...20 internationals, 17 domestics

[Newenglander]

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/2023-united-soccer-coaches-ncaa-division-i-mens-and-womens-all-america-teams-announced/

Division 1 (Men's)...20 internationals, 17 domestics

Make what you want of it but only one player from the Northeast (NY) on 1st-3rd teams.....3rd team at that.

[camosfan]

Cuse, St Johns or Cornell did nothing this year.

[Flying Weasel]

Cuse, St Johns or Cornell did nothing this year.

I think Newenglander is referring to player hometowns, not location of their school/team.  Because Hofstra had a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teamer, and Univ. of New Hampshire has a 1st and a 3rd teamer.  But as far as hometowns, there's just the Hofstra 3rd teamer from Merrick, NY.

[camosfan]

OK got you!

[Ejay]

Hometowns...

1st team:
GA
IL
MI
NC
TX
International (7)

2nd team:
AZ
CA
CO
MI
PA
TX (2)
International (5)

3rd team:
IL
NC
NY
OH
WI
International (8)