Kansas City, Mo. - After claiming their fourth consecutive Heart Regular Season Championship, the No. 1 Central Methodist men's soccer team garnered seven all-conference selections including five of the six superlative award winners.
Highlighting the major award winners was junior forward Alessandro Salvadego, who was not only named the Player of the Year, but also the Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Year. For his efforts this season he was selected to the Heart All-Conference First Team.
The Belluno, Italy was a force on the pitch, as he scored 17 goals overall including 14 in Heart play. He finished the regular season leading the nation in goals scored. He also recorded five assists this season and was a perfect four-for-four on penalty kicks.
Senior Marcos German was recognized as the Heart Defensive Player of the Year and a first team all-conference honoree after anchoring the defensive backline to 10 shut out victories. He scored six goals this season and dished out four assists. This is the second time German has earned Defensive Player of the Year recognition, as the Madrid, Spain native was also recognized in 2019.
Head Coach Alex Nichols was tabbed as the Coach of the Year after leading the Eagles to their fourth-straight regular season championship and a perfect 12-0 record in conference play. This marks Coach Nichol's fourth consecutive Heart Coach of the Year honor, having previously being recognized in 2020, 2019, and 2018. Central is currently on a 41 match win streak in Heart regular season play, with their last loss coming in September of 2018.
Sophomore goalkeeper and 2020 NAIA All-American Stefano Camerlengo was named to the Heart All-Conference First Team for the second consecutive year. Appearing and starting in 14 of Central's matches this season, the Pescara, Italy native recorded seven clean sheets and en-route to a perfect 14-0 record. Camerlengo finished the 2021 regular season with 28 saves and a .875 save percentage.
Jesse Bank earned first team all-conference honors in his first year with CMU. He served as an instrumental piece to Central's backline this season. Bank also scored three goals including the game winner against Clarke on Oct. 23.
Billy Nzojyibwami was the fourth Eagle to be named a Heart All-Conference First Team performer after landing on the third-team a season ago. He appeared in 15 games with 13 starts in 2021, tallying six goals and one assist.
Freshman defender Basil Erne was the final Eagle to earn first team honors, as the Uetikon am See, Switzerland native appeared and started in all 16 of Central's matches. He completed the trio of Central's backline to land on the first team, as the backline completed seven shutouts out of 12 Heart matches played.
Junior midfielder Christian Sanchez rounded out the all-conference selections for CMU, as he landed on the third team. Sanchez is now a two-time all-conference performer, having earned second team honors in 2020. Sanchez has started in every game this season for the Eagles, tallying five goals and four assists.
Central garnered the most first team all-conference performers of any team in the Heart with six selections. CMU Missouri Valley College tied for the most overall all-conference selections with seven.
The Eagles have earned the No. 1 overall seed in the conference tournament. Central will host No. 8 seeded Baker in the quarterfinals beginning Friday, Nov. 5 at 2:00 p.m. at Davis Field.
To view the full list of Heart All-Conference honorees, please click here.
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