Men’s soccer players Justin Kohler, Aahman Murvin and Henok Moges earned All-Regional honors, along with women’s soccer player Jordan Lande.
Three Webster soccer players were awarded All-Regional honors for the NCAA Division III Men’s Region VIII. Seniors Justin Kohler, Aahman Murvin were both named Second Team All-Regional while Henok Moges was named Third Team All-Regional.
Coaches throughout the United Soccer Coaches (USC) vote on All Regional team members based on who they believe are the best players in the region. According to Kohler, coaches can only vote for players on teams they played against and can’t vote for players on their own team. He said he found out he made second team All-Regionals when Webster Athletics posted about it on Twitter.
“It’s awesome [to make All-Regionals],” Kohler said. “I think it’s an accumulation of all the work we have done this year.”
There are a total of 33 All-Regional spots for players to fill. The spots are separated into three “teams” with each team owning 11 players: A goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders and four forwards. Kohler earned a spot as a midfielder on the second team and joined Murvin, who got second team All-Regional as a forward.
This is the first time in Webster history two players earned second team All-Regional and had three members make All-Regionals. Moges earned a spot on the third All-Regional team as a defender, adding to his achievement of winning the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Moges said this achievement made all the hard work he put in these last four years worthwhile.
“I was driving when my coach texted me, and I was like, ‘Oh goodness,’” Moges said. “I didn’t expect it. It was kind of a surprise. It means a lot to me to finally get recognition.”
All three seniors started in each game this season, which turned out to be a historic run for them. The team broke the school record with 18 wins. Murvin finished the season with 15 goals and led the conference with 39 total points, ranking fourth all time in Webster history for goals and points in one season. He is ranked second in career goals and points with 41 and 103 career points.
Along with Moges’ Defensive Player of the Year award, Murvin won Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. Moges and the rest of the defense only allowed 15 goals this season, as well as 12 shutout victories. Moges said this achievement and the success of the team this season was special to him as a senior because he is ending his soccer career off on a high note.
“To end as statistically the best team in Webster history, compared to how the team started off my freshman and sophomore year, there is a steady incline where you can see the progress being made throughout the four years,” Moges said. “It’s definitely satisfying seeing how far we’ve come and how good the team is going to be after this year as well.”
Along with the three men soccer players, Jordan Lande of the women’s team also earned third team All-Regional honors. The senior forward finished her season with 18 goals and 42 total points. This placed her fifth all time in Webster history with 49 career goals.
According to Lande, she received a lot of support from family and friends upon receiving All-Regional honors.
“I told my parents and everyone was acting all excited, so I figured this must have been a good thing,” Lande said. “They said they were proud of me and this was a reward for all my efforts this season, and I deserved it.”
Lande said she felt like people often overlooked her as a player. According to her, having a player make All-Regionals finally puts Webster’s team out there and shows they can be better than how other teams portray them.
Kohler said having three guys make All-Regionals shows how good the team was this season. According to him, most teams didn’t have more than two players make an All-Regional team, and the teams which did have more than two players were oftentimes national ranked teams.
“It means more for our teams than all of us as individuals,” Kohler said. “It shows how good the team is and hopefully that will transition into more success for the future for our program to keep turning upward.”
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Kaelin Triggs (he/him) has been a part of The Journal since 2019. He is a journalism major pursuing a career in sports writing. He also runs for Webster's track and cross country team, and he enjoys playing piano and hanging out with friends and family.
