CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The coaches have selected the 2025 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Men’s Soccer postseason award selections. These outstanding student-athletes have distinguished themselves throughout the conference regular season. 
 
Coaches from the conference nominated and selected this year’s all-conference team, recognizing the top performers. In addition to honoring the all-conference team, the release also recognizes the Defensive Most Valuable Performer, Offensive Most Valuable Performer, Rookie of the Year, and Coaching Staff of the Year. 
 
The A-R-C proudly announces today that Central College’s Alejo Marcon has been selected as Men’s Soccer Defensive Most Valuable Performer for the 2025 season. Luther College’s Francesco Mungari has been named Offensive Most Valuable Performer and Loras College’s Alexander Drexler has been honored as Rookie of the Year. Central head coach Garry Laidlaw and his staff were voted American Rivers Coaching Staff of the Year. In addition to the major awards, the conference announced the 2025 all-conference team. 
 
Laidlaw has led the Dutch program since 1988 and is earning Coaching Staff of the Year honors for the fifth time in his distinguished career. He led Central to a 4-1-3 league record to finish in fourth place. Laidlaw is assisted by Pauly Apostolopoulos, Zach Jensen, and Ronan Murphy. 
 
Marcon is earning his first major award honor of his impressive career as the Defensive MVP. He is the third from Central to earn a major award in men’s soccer, joining Brett McKenzie (2010) and Taylor Petkovich (2019). In eight conference matches, Marcon was in action 706 minutes and guided the defensive front that allowed 11 goals in conference action. 
 
Mungari is earning his first major award honor in his career as the Offensive MVP. He becomes the fourth student-athlete to receive Offensive MVP honors fro the Norse, joining Aidan O’Driscoll (2018), Marcos Vila (2020, 2022), and Javier Pastor Valls (2024). He was in action for 586 minutes during eight conference matches this fall. He scored four goals and assisted on two for a total of ten points this conference season. 
 
Drexler becomes the second Rookie of the Year in A-R-C history. As a goalie for the Duhawks, he played all 720 minutes in the box. He faced 94 shots on the season, allowing only four goals, to lead the conference.

2025 All-American Rivers Conference Men's Soccer Team
Offensive MVP - Francesco Mungari, Luther College
Defensive MVP - Alejo Marcon, Central College
Rookie of the Year - Alexander Drexler, Loras College
Coaching Staff of the Year - Central College (Head Coach: Garry Laidlaw)
All-Conference	School	Year	Position	Hometown/High School
Teddy Apostolopoulos	Central College	So.	MF	Pella, Iowa/Pella
Ian Gredell	Central College	So.	MF	West Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic
Nate Lampe	Central College	So.	F	Newton, Iowa/Newton
Ian Kearney !	Coe College	Sr.	MF	Las Vegas, Nev./Clark
Alexander Drexler	Loras College	Fr.	GK	High Ridge, Mo./Northwest
Dani Galiana Torres ! -h2	Loras College	Sr.	F	Madrid, Spain/SEK Ciudalcampo
Sep Heerkens	Loras College	So.	F	Tilburg, Netherlands/Koning Willem 2 College
Aitor Lopez	Luther College	Sr.	GK	Madrid, Spain/The Kiski School
Paulo Mercante	Luther College	Fr.	D	Campo Grande, Brazil/Northwood
Enzo Mitidieri	Luther College	Sr.	MF	Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Pio XII
Nels Mortenson @ !	Luther College	So.	MF	Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn
Franklyn Herasme	Nebraska Wesleyan University	Jr.	MF	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Marianpolis Prep
Max Matthies	Nebraska Wesleyan University	Jr.	F	Omaha, Neb./Creighton
Wil Tobaben	Nebraska Wesleyan University	Jr.	D	Omaha, Neb./Omaha Skutt Catholic
Kaysha Shagvah	Nebraska Wesleyan University	So.	D	Kenya
Mitchell Dickson -h1	Simpson College	Sr.	F	Stuart, Iowa/West Central Valley
Flori Gembo !	Wartburg College	So.	MF	Coralville, Iowa/Liberty
Carson Kay !	Wartburg College	So.	D	Adel, Iowa/Adel-Desoto-Minburn
Sam McDevitt !	Wartburg College	Sr.	MF	Adel, Iowa/Waukee Northwest
Alima Mmunga -h1	Wartburg College	Jr.	F	Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City High
Kaleab Wendy	Wartburg College	So.	MF	Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City West
Blake Whitlow	Wartburg College	So.	D	Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Linn-Mar
Honorable Mention	School	Year	Position	Hometown/High School
Kendall Bickford	Buena Vista University	Sr.	MF	Grimes, Iowa/Dallas Center-Grimes
Cooper Collins	Central College	So.	MF/F	Clive, Iowa/Waukee Northwest
Trysten Vasquez	Central College	Sr.	D	Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier
Winston Hedvall	University of Dubuque	Fr.	F	Gothenburg, Sweden/Aspero
Mario Meier	University of Dubuque	Sr.	MF	Wiesendangen, Switzerland/Technische Berufsschule Zurich
Cole Bridson	Loras College	Sr.	MF	Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park
Joseph Sorce	Loras College	Fr.	F	Park Ridge, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep
Elliot Lindberg	Luther College	So.	MF	Danderyd, Sweden/Danderyds Gymnasium
Joseph Mulindwa	Luther College	So.	MF	Kampala, Uganda/UWC East Africa-Arusha
Tate Downs	Simpson College	Jr.	D/MF	Ames, Iowa/Ames
Nate Hersom	Simpson College	Jr.	GK	Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale
Joseph Svoboda	Wartburg College	Fr.	GK	Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West
Previous Honors
@ - 2024 Rookie of the Year
! - 2024 All-Conference
-h1 - 2024 Honorable Mention
-h2 - 2023 Honorable Mention