ST. LOUIS, Mo. (BGSU Strategic Communications) – Bowling Green State University was well represented when the Missouri Valley Conference office named the 2024 All-MVC Men's Soccer Team and specialty-award winners on Tuesday morning (Nov. 12).

Fifth-year Falcon Kyle Cusimano was named the MVC's Defensive Player of the Year, with senior Alberto Anaya and junior Trace Terry joining Cusimano on the All-MVC First Team.

Another fifth-year Falcon, Brendan Graves, and sophomore Bennett Painter were named to the All-MVC Second Team.

Anaya has earned all-conference accolades in each of his four seasons with the Falcons. He was named to the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team in both 2021 and '22, and was the MAC's Freshman of the Year in '21, and has now earned All-MVC First-Team accolades in each of the last two seasons.

Terry earns All-MVC recognition for the second-straight season, as he was named to the all-conference second team a year ago.

Graves lands on an all-league squad for the second time, having been named to the All-MAC First Team in 2022. He shared MAC Goalkeeper-of-the-Year honors in that '22 campaign.

Painter is an All-MVC Second-Team selection after being named to the MVC's All-Freshman Team in 2023.
 

Gallery: (11-12-2024) 111224 MSOC All-MVC Team

Cusimano, a native of Bay Village, Ohio (Bay), has started all 18 matches this season to date, and has played 1,619 of the 1,620 total minutes. He came off the field just once all season, due to injury, but was back on the pitch just over a minute later. Cusimano has six points on two goals and two assists, and has helped the Falcons keep five clean sheets this season to date. He has played in 78 career matches, starting 77, in his BGSU career, to rank among the top 15 players in program history on both lists. Cusimano has 3 career points, on 10 goals and 13 assists.

Anaya, a native of Queretaro, Mexico (ITESM Leon), has started all 18 matches this season, and has 15 points on three goals and nine assists. Anaya is tied for the team assists lead, and is tied for 12th in the nation in total assists and deadlocked for 19th in the country in assists per game. His assist total includes a four-assist game vs. Eastern Illinois, which tied the school single game record. Anaya has posted double-digit point totals in all four seasons at BGSU, and has 53 career points on 15 goals and 23 assists. He is tied for ninth in school history in career assists, and is deadlocked for 19th on the BG career points list. With eight career game-winning goals, Anaya is tied for fifth on that school list.

Terry, who hails from Bellbrook, Ohio (Bellbrook), has played in 16 matches this season, starting all 16, and has 26 points on 11 goals and four assists. He ranks second on the team in both goals and points, and is tied for the team lead with four game-winning goals. Terry had 10 points on five goals in MVC regular-season play, leading the Falcons in both categories. Overall, he ranks among the nation's top 20 in multiple categories, including goals (18th), points (20th), GWG (11th), points per game (15th), goals per game (17th), shots per game (sixth) and shots on goal per game (eighth). He has scored at least one point in 11 of his 16 matches this season. Terry has scored 44 career points in 49 matches, on 17 goals and 10 assists, and he has six career GWG.

Graves, a native of Perrysburg, Ohio (Perrysburg), has started all 18 matches this season, and has 69 saves, a .767 saves percentage, five shutouts and a 1.17 goals-against average. Three of those clean sheets came in MVC regular-season play, as he had a GAA of just 0.88 in conference matches. In his career, he has started 59 matches, and has 214 saves, 16 shutouts and a 1.24 GAA. Graves is 12th in school history in career saves, and is tied for eighth in career shutouts. He has moved into seventh place on the career wins list, with 27. Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 58 matches. No other BGSU 'keeper has been between the posts since Oct. 22, 2021.

Painter, who hails from Cincinnati, Ohio (Anderson), has started all 18 matches, and leads the Falcons with 13 goals and 29 points. He also has three assists on the year. Painter has scored a goal in each of BGSU's last three matches, and has found the back of the net in 10 of the Falcons' 18 games this season. He had four goals and eight points in MVC regular-season play to rank second on the team in both categories. Currently, he ranks among the nation's top-10 players in both goals (seventh) and points (ninth), and he is among the top 20 in the country in GWG (11th), goals per game (13th) and points per game (17th). Painter has 37 career points in 31 games, with 16 goals and five assists since joining the Falcons.

BGSU has an overall record of 11-5-2 on the season, and the Falcons went 4-3-1 in MVC play, tying for third place in the nine-team league. BG earned the number-three seed for the MVC Tournament, and defeated sixth-seeded UIC, 4-1, in the quarterfinal round on Sunday night (Nov. 10). The Falcons face second-seeded Drake in Wednesday's (Nov. 13) semifinal round in Springfield, Mo., with first touch scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET.

The complete list of all-conference team members and specialty-award winners follows...

2024 ALL-MVC TEAM AND SPECIALTY AWARD WINNERS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jesus Barea, Missouri State
FORWARD OF THE YEAR: Jesus Barea, Missouri State
CO-MIDFIELDERS OF THE YEAR: Eskil Gjerde, Drake; Tyler Caton, Missouri State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kyle Cusimano, Bowling Green
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR: Colin Welsh, Western Michigan
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Preston Kipnusu, Drake
COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Drake (Pat Flinn, Kyle Smith, Cole Poppen, James Wypych)
MVC FAIR PLAY AWARD: Western Michigan

ALL-MVC FIRST TEAM ^
Colin Welsh, Western Michigan    GK    Sr.
Kyle Cusimano, Bowling Green      D    Gr.
Jesus De Vincente, UIC            D    Sr.
Alex Matthews, Missouri State     D    R-Jr.
Alberto Anaya, Bowling Green      M    Sr.
Eskil Gjerde, Drake               M    Jr.
Tyler Caton, Missouri State       M    So.
Carson Hodgson, Western Michigan  M    Jr.
Trace Terry, Bowling Green        F    Jr.
Bart Muns, UIC                    F    R-Sr.
Jesus Barea, Missouri State       F    Sr.
Owen Smith, Western Michigan      F    Gr.
^ 12-member All-MVC First Team due to a tie in the voting ALL-MVC SECOND TEAM $
Brendan Graves, Bowling Green    GK    Gr.
Will Lowry, Missouri State       GK    Sr.
Dylan Steely, Belmont             D    Jr.
Charlie Dickerson, Bradley        D    Sr.
Ryder Bennett, Drake              D    Jr.
Austin Holtebeck, Drake           D    Gr.
Jackson Kirsch, Drake             M    So.
Jacopo Fedrizzi, Evansville       M    R-Fr.
Bennett Painter, Bowling Green    F    So.
Preston Kipnusu, Drake            F    Fr.
Nacho Diaz Barragan, Evansville   F    Sr.
James Jennings, Missouri State    F    R-Sr.
Fumiya Shiraishi, Missouri State  F    Sr.
$ 13-member All-MVC Second Team due to a tie in the voting

MVC ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM &
Alan Alonso, UIC                     M
Tomas Butkovic, Drake               GK
Preston Kipnusu, Drake               F
Michal Mroz, Evansville             GK
Grant Paskus, Northern Illinois      M
Christian Shannon, Western Michigan  D
Victor Wachowicz, Missouri State     D
& 7-member MVC All-Freshman Team due to a tie in the voting

For more information on the BGSU men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMSoccer), Instagram (bgfalcons and bgsumsoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer), and on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.