Goshen, IN — Following the most successful Goshen College men’s soccer season in 29 years, the Leafs were showered with various awards and honors from both the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Mid-Central Conference, the school announced Thursday.

Senior defender Joel Miller and junior forward Tony Janzen were each voted NAIA All-American Honorable Mention, while both secured NAIA All-Region VIII status as well. Miller was named the MCC’s Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, while Janzen joined Miller on the All-MCC First Team. Senior defender Adam Yoder complemented the pair, being named to the league’s second team all-conference.

In addition to the player awards, head coach Tavi Mounsithiraj was named the NAIA Region VIII Coach of the Year per the team’s 1-1, double-overtime 4-2 penalty kick decision over Cornerstone in the Region VIII Championship (click here for related article).

“It was a good run for us this year,” Mounsithiraj said following news of the accolades, “but it’s been a good run over the last few years. Overall, to win two MCC championships, one MCC Tournament and make a trip to nationals, as a group, that’s pretty good.”

Goshen has done just that over the past three seasons, winning the program’s first share of a regular-season MCC Championship since the 1990 season in 2005 (click here for article). That paved the way for this season’s impressive run, which included another MCC regular-season Co-Championship (click here for article), the MCC Tournament Championship (click here for article), the NAIA Region VIII title and the program’s first trip to the NAIA National Tournament since 1977. The only drawback — if there was one — was that the dream season ended too early, as Goshen suffered a 2-2, double-overtime, 2-4 penalty kick loss to Park University in the NAIA Nationals first round contest (click here for article).

Perhaps the team’s biggest staple of the season — and the last four years — was Miller, the school’s first men’s soccer player to win a conference player of the year award in three different seasons. Only 1998 graduate Kerry Escayg comes close to such consistency, as he garnered the MCC’s Player of the Year honor in both 1997 and 1998.

Milller, however, was asked to do nearly everything for Goshen, as his responsibilities did not conclude in the backfield. Miller scored six goals in 2006 — second-best on the team — and came up with two game-winners and two equalizers off corner kicks.

For Mounsithiraj, Miller’s latest bundle of accolades is well deserved, as Miller and his four-year classmates concluded their careers just two wins short of tying the program record of career wins with 52. (Seniors from the 1996 season to the 1999 campaign recorded 54 career victories; seniors from ’95 to ’98 tallied 53 wins.) Miller finished as a two-time NAIA All-American Honorable Mention, a two-time NAIA All-Region VIII selection, a three-time MCC Defensive Player of the Year and a four-time All-MCC performer.

“Joel Miller is the most fierce competitor we’ve ever had here at Goshen, and probably one of the best, if not the best soccer player in school history,” Mounsithiraj said. “He does so much for us. Helping us to shut outs, scoring goals. . .he’s the best player in the air that I have ever coached. He’s determined to go get the ball every time, and I don’t remember too many times in four years where he didn’t win the ball.”

Perhaps a testament to Miller’s demeanor and consistency, the senior played in all of Goshen’s 87 games during his four-year career. In those contests, Miller never picked up a single yellow card.

“Joel is the most easy-going kid, and you just enjoy being around him,” Mounsithiraj said. “He cares about his teammates and the environment. He always helped up opponents if he knocked them to the ground while going after a ball, and his never getting a card says a lot about how he plays. He goes about his business in the right way, and plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”

With Miller anchoring the team’s backfield it was Janzen that again attracted the attention up front, as the junior scored a team-leading nine goals and dished out four assists this season. While slightly off his pace of 14 goals and three assists from 2005, Janzen again was the rugged, never-quit player that gave the Leafs a chance in every contest.

Janzen’s NAIA All-American and All-Region VIII awards were his first, while his MCC honor was his second straight.

“Tony is one of the hardest workers we have on the team,” Mounsithiraj said. “He finishes very well and is able to hold off defenders and outrun them. Other coaches keyed on him all year, and that allowed others to take advantage of scoring situations. He’s going to have an even bigger target on his back next season, but Tony will always be dangerous due to how hard he works in the off-season. He will definitely be someone we look upon for leadership next year.”

Yoder rounded off the list of all-conference award winners for the team, as the soft-spoken senior defender picked up his first All-MCC award this year. Playing alongside Miller, Mounsithiraj said that Yoder was often overlooked by opposing teams. That was not the case in the Goshen locker room, however.

“Adam is a four-year starter for us and is a very good one versus one defender,” Mounsithiraj said. “Adam is the model of consistency. Any time you can help a team to 28 career shutouts (the most from any four-year period in the Goshen record books) you are a very solid player. Adam reads the game very well and his small size never seemed to be a factor. He is a very smart player that does a lot on the field that may go unnoticed by the average fan. We will miss him next season.”

Yoder and Miller helped comprise an eight-man senior group that played all four seasons at Goshen, winning 52 games and posting 28 shutouts. (Craig Welscott, Jesse Johnson, Jesse Woodworth, Rueben Yoder, Ashe Abebe and Jared Price were the others.) With the program’s recent success and the heightened level of competition, Mounsithiraj was quick to laud the group’s accomplishments.

“That is probably, talent-wise, one of the best classes we’ve ever had here,” he said. “From the minute these guys stepped on campus we’ve had a winning program. All of them contribute to the team in so many ways, and that’s what has been so nice about this class. They care about one another, and that has shown on the field and in our play.”