Green named SCAC Offensive Player of the Year for third straight season; Five Bulldogs receive honors
SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran junior forward Luis Green (Monterrey, Mexico/Smithson Valley HS (Texas)) has been named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year for a third consecutive season.
Green and three other Bulldogs - Nicolas Medina, Jack Manke, and Jared Esparza - were named All-SCAC. Medina, Manke, and Esparza were named to the All-SCAC Second Team.
Manke and fellow first-year player Caleb McCausland were named to the All-SCAC Freshman Team.
Green is the first athlete in men's soccer history to win three straight Player of the Year honors. He joins Rhodes' Neil Brunetz as the only other three-time winner.
Despite a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Green continued the torrid pace to his career. He led the conference in nearly every offensive category and resumed his climb in the record books to join some of the league's all-time greats. Earlier this year, Green was named to the SCAC's 30th Anniversary Men's Soccer Team.
Playing in just nine games in 2021, Green led the SCAC in points (26), goals (11), points-per-game (2.89), goals-per-game (1.22), game-winning goals (3), and shots on goal (21). He finished third in assists with four.
A two-time SCAC Offensive Player of the Week during the season, Green tied a TLU men's soccer record for goals scored in a match with four in the Bulldogs' 5-1 conference road win over Schreiner on March 27.
Historically, Green's 1.22 goals-per-game is the sixth-best single-season performance in conference history and the highest since Brunetz averaged 1.28 GPP in 1996.
Green's 2.89 points-per-game ranks third-best all-time in SCAC history, trailing only Oglethorpe's Will Lukow's seasons of 3.26 and 3.00 PPG back in 1992 and 1991.
This year, Green became the first player in SCAC history to lead the league three straight seasons in points, points-per-game, and goals-per-game. He is also just the second athlete in SCAC history to lead the league in goals scored for three straight seasons, joining Trinity's Josh Card, who accomplished the feat from 2000-2002.
Through three seasons, Green has 49 goals in 48 games played for an SCAC all-time best 1.02 goals-per-game. His current career 2.23 points-per-game ranks second all-time in league history.
Green received eight votes in the balloting for Offensive Player of the Year honors. Senior forward Kiran Singh of Colorado College received the remaining first-place vote.
Medina, a junior forward, scored two goals and had three assists in nine matches. He now has 14 career goals and nine career assists. Medina's three single-match assists (on three of Green's goals against Schreiner) moved him into a tie for third on the TLU list for assists in a match.
Manke, a first-year midfielder, played in all nine matches and made seven starts. Esparza, a senior midfielder, scored two goals and had two assists in 2021. He scored the match-winning goal against Colorado College to give TLU a key conference victory.
McCausland, a first-year defender, played in eight matches and made five starts. He assisted on Green's goal in the conference home win over Colorado College.