HUDSONVILLE, Mich. – Prior to the start of the 2023 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Men's Soccer Tournament Semifinal Round, the conference has unveiled the All-MIAA recipients for their work in the conference season. The Thunder had five All-MIAA honorees, tied for the most selections in program history in a single year.
Sophomore midfielder Jarick Aguilar and sophomore defender Liam Zimmerman represent Trine on the Second Team All-MIAA, while sophomore defender Gavin Hardy, senior midfielder Francesco Mazzei and senior forward Tyler Murphy were chosen as First Team All-MIAA members. Murphy was also selected to receive the Dr. Marvin A. Zuidema Award. It is presented annually to an MIAA men's soccer senior for contributions to team play, leadership qualities, demonstration of ethical virtues and excellence in athletics and academics.
Murphy, from Greenfield, Indiana, is team captain for the Thunder and holds a grade point average of 3.957 in Trine's Design, Engineering and Technology program. He is the program's leading scorer in the NCAA DIII era with 44 goals and 97 points in his career and holds the Trine men's soccer record for game-winning goals with 15. His career accolades include 2022 CSC First Team Academic All-American, 2021 USC All-Region, 2021 First Team All-MIAA, 2020 Second Team All-MIAA, and seven-time MIAA Athlete of the Week.
On the field, Murphy has scored a team-high nine goals in 2023, highlighted by a hat trick in the 4-3 victory against Kenyon College and a game-winning goal versus Hope College to help clinch the two-seed in the MIAA standings. He is three points away from becoming just the second Trine men's soccer player to reach 100 career points and he is five goals away from tying the program's all-time record in goals scored dating back to the NAIA days.
The senior Mazzei from Dearborn, Michigan was named First Team All-MIAA for the second consecutive season. He has started in all 16 matches in the Thunder midfield and had a key assist in a conference win against The University of Olivet. Contributing to both the offense and the defense, Mazzei helped the team with five shutouts in 2023, three coming in the conference slate.
The Holland, Michigan native, Hardy was the third Trine student-athlete tabbed to the First Team All-MIAA after notching Second Team All-MIAA honors as a freshman one year ago. He was second on the team with five goals scored, most coming off of set pieces where he was able to use his height to his advantage. Three of Hardy's five goals scored came during the MIAA campaign, including the game-tying score against Kalamazoo College in a 1-1 draw.
Zimmerman, a sophomore from Clarkston, Michigan, was all over the pitch with two goals and four assists in the conference season from the back row to earn his first career Second Team All-MIAA award. The match against Olivet saw Zimmerman score a goal and record an assist and he was involved in scores in five of the seven MIAA matches. His six assists in 2023 leads the team.
For the first time in his career, the sophomore from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aguilar was selected as a Second Team All-MIAA member following his performance on the pitch in 2023. Aguilar sent home what would be the game-winning goal in the team's 3-2 victory against Olivet earlier this season. On the defensive side of the ball, he was a part of five total shutouts.
The men's soccer team will look to advance from the MIAA Tournament Semifinals when they face #6 Olivet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 1 at Shive Field.
