Union men’s soccer sweeps conference awards

Barbourville, Ky. - The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) released its 2024-25 Men's Soccer All-Conference Team and awards on Thursday. 

Union Commonwealth University had five players named to the All-AAC First Team and three named to the All-AAC Second Team. The Bulldogs swept all six awards.

Callum Edwards, Isa Bramble, Daniel Harrison, Biel Vallverdu, and Owen Lewis received All-AAC First Team honors, while Oriol Gasquez Perez, Alex Benitez, and Diogo Costa were named to the All-AAC Second Team. 

This marks the second consecutive year that Edwards and Costa have earned First and Second Team honors, respectively.

Edwards was named Player of the Year and earned the Golden Boot Award for the second consecutive season. Edwards is the first player to be named Player of the Year for Union since Luke Hitchman in 2016. 

He also made history as the only player in Union men's soccer to earn the Golden Boot award twice, and the first to receive it since Alex Smith in 2014.

Bramble received the Offensive Player of the Year honor, marking the second year in a row that a Bulldog has claimed this award. 

Harrison earned both Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, extending the streak of Bulldogs receiving this accolade for two straight seasons. This marks the first time since Marcelo Mercuri in 2015 that a Union men's soccer player has been named Defensive Player of the Year.

After being named Co-Coach of the Year last season, Head Coach Jonathan Shaw has once again been honored as Coach of the Year.

Costa also earned a place on the Champions of Character Team.

Thirteen Bulldogs made the All-Academic Team: Benitez, Titus Craig, Eduardo Forte, Lewis, Gianni Loska, Frank Osborne, Matheos Ribeiro, Patrick Taylor, Luis Salvador Evangelho, Joao Segutti, Vallverdu, Shane Van Den Aardweg, and Tyler Wheatcroft.

UCU leads the conference with 58 goals. In the regular season, the Bulldogs conceded only 10 goals.

Edwards and Bramble remain in the top five in the AAC for goals and points. Wheatcroft and Vallverdu also remain in the top five in the AAC for assists. Harrison is second in the AAC in goals against average with an average of 0.72.