Olivet Nazarene Completes The Trifecta By Topping Men's Soccer Honor Roll

CHICAGO --- Three-peat times three.

After capturing both the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles three years running, the Olivet Nazarene University men's soccer program completed the trifecta when it gained the most postseason awards for the third straight season following the league announcement of the men's soccer honor roll on Monday.

The Tiger program claimed both the most all-conference selections (five) as well as the most overall awards (six) among the 32 that were presented.

Headlining the list was three-time first-team selection Nick Kilian (Stahnsdorf, Germany), who was named the CCAC Player of the Year for 2023.  The senior defender's name can be found among the top ten players in no fewer than four league statistical categories, topped by his tie for first place with seven assists.

A CCAC Defensive Player of the Week just last week, Kilian also ranks tied for sixth with a pair of game-winning goals, seventh in total points (19) and tied for tenth with six goals.

Kilian is the second Tiger player in as many years to win the award.  Justin Eisenmann was the recipient last fall. 

The Governors State University program was also well represented on the honors list with five selections.  The regular-season runner-up boasted the most first-team all-league picks with four, including Simon Blaesdahl (Denmark), who claimed CCAC Freshman of the Year accolades.

The forward garnered the recognition after tying for the conference lead in game-winning goals (three), placing third with 10 goals and sixth with 20 points.  He was also a one-time CCAC Offensive Player of the Week.

The other top individual award went to Trinity Christian College head coach Gabriel Sitibaldi, who was recognized as the CCAC Coach of the Year.  After taking over the program in January, he did a complete turnaround, taking the Troll program from a three-win team (3-12-2) in 2022 to one that notched nine victories (9-7-3) this fall.  TCC also tripled its conference win total from two matches to six.

Saint Xavier University and Roosevelt University joined Governors State with four all-conference selections.  Included among Roosevelt's quartet was Alan Rubio (Rockford, Ill.) who was the only other player besides Kilian to repeat on the 14-member first team.  There was also a 14-member second-team squad.

Besides its coaching award, Trinity Christian had two all-league selections as did University of St. Francis, Viterbo University, Judson University and Holy Cross College.  St. Ambrose had one representative.

The final honor went to the Calumet College of St. Joseph program, which was recognized as the Karl Boeck Champions of Character Team.

For the complete list of award winners, go to Awards.