Horizon League Places Seven on All-Great Lakes Region Teams

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Seven Horizon League men's soccer players earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Great Lakes Region honors.

Valparaiso placed three players onto the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region teams, as senior Wei Ming Wong (Hong Kong/Hong Kong International), junior Kyle Zobeck (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West) and senior Stefan Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) all earned places on the team. The trio was joined by Green Bay senior Tony Walls (Wauwatosa, Wis./East). UIC placed Ivan Stanisavljevic (Belgrade, Serbia) and Eric Frazier (Flower Mound, Texas) on the third team along with Cleveland State sophomore Admir Suljevic (Derventa, Bosnia).

Wong was a fixture at center back for the Crusaders in 2011, coming off the pitch in just two of Valpo’s 20 contests while starting all 20 games.  The senior was an integral part of a defensive unit that surrendered a school record low 14 goals this season while posting 11 clean sheets.  The Second Team All-Horizon League honoree also picked up a game-winning goal against IPFW and chipped in an assist as well.

Meanwhile, Zobeck was the man between the pipes for the Crusaders all season long.  The Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year The redshirt junior set a new Valpo single-season record with 11 shutouts, tied for the seventh-most shutouts in a single year in Horizon League history, and broke the Crusaders’ career record in Valpo’s final game with his 18th career clean sheet.  In addition, he easily topped Valpo’s single-season goals against average mark, closing the season with a 0.66 GAA.  Zobeck led the league at the close of the season in both GAA and shutouts as well.

In addition to being a Third Team All-Region selection, Walls earned Horizon League Player of the Year, First Team All-League and All-Tournament Team honors his senior year after scoring seven goals and dishing out five assists. The midfielder led Green Bay to an 11-7-1 overall and 5-3 conference record in his final campaign with the Phoenix. Walls is now ready and eager to take his game to the next level.

Walls is among the 52 college seniors from 31 Division I schools across the nation are invited to participate in the annual MLS Player Combine. The initial player list was determined by a panel of Division I college coaches, representing all conferences, who nominated and voted for players in addition to MLS coaches. Green Bay Head Coach Kris Kelderman is the MLS representative for the Horizon League. Walls will be one of 19 midfielders participating in the Combine and the only player from the Horizon League.

Stanisavljevic finished his junior campaign as the Horizon League's leader in points (26), points per game (1.37), goals (10) and goals per game (0.53), while ranking second in assists (6) and shots (55). Stanisavljevic also scored three game-winning goals on the season.

Five of Stanisavljevic's goals occurred during Horizon League play, good for second in the league - he compiled a total of 11 points during conference games. Stanisavljevic was named the "Top Drawer Soccer" and SoccerSavings.com/Soccer News National Player of the Week, and the Horizon League Player of the Week on Sept. 19, after scoring four goals and tallying two assists in the UIC Soccer Classic at Flames Field.

Stanisavljevic also chalked up Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week and Horizon League Player of the Week honors on Oct. 3, after collecting his second hat trick of the season with three goals against visiting Green Bay (10/1/11).

During the regular season, Frazier, a senior, led the Horizon League in shots (53), shots per game (3.53) and game-winning goals (4) while ranking second behind Stanisavljevic in total points (19). In Horizon League play, Frazier took a league-high 28 shots, while dishing out three assists, good for second in the conference.

He was named the Horizon League Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Sept. 5, after scoring a combined three goals in leading the Flames to a 2-0 shutout over DePaul (9/1/11), and a 1-1 tie against then-unbeaten UAB (9/4/11).

Suljevic finished the year with 19 points, leading the Vikings with five assists to complement a seven goal output. The sophomore earned First Team All-Horizon League accolades.