The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) has released the 2024 All-MVC Men’s Soccer Team and specialty-award winners.

Fifth-year defender Kyle Cusimano has been named the 2024 MVC Defensive Player of the Year and has earned All-MVC First Team honors.

Cusimano has started all 18 matches for Bowling Green this season and has played all but one minute for the Orange and Brown (1,619 minutes total). He has two goals and two assists this season in helping the Falcons earn five clean sheets.

Junior forward Trace Terry and senior midfielder Alberto Anaya have also earned All-MVC First Team recognition.

Terry, in his breakout year with the Falcons, has 11 goals and four assists this season in 16 matches. This is the second straight year where Terry has earned All-MVC honors, being named to the second team in 2023.

For the fourth straight season, Anaya has earned all-conference honors and, for the second year in a row, has been named to the All-MVC First Team. This season, Anaya has started all 18 games for BG and has posted three goals and nine assists.

Sophomore forward Bennett Painter and fifth-year goalkeeper Brendan Graves were named to the All-MVC Second Team.

Painter, in just his second collegiate season, leads the Orange and Brown in goals this year with 13, tallying three assists as well. He has scored in 10 of Bowling Green’s 18 games this season, including three straight matches with a goal.

Graves, who has been in between the post for the Orange and Brown for the last 58 matches, earned second-league honors for the second time in his career. He has posted five shutouts on the year and 69 saves this season. Graves is 12th in school history in career saves and is tied for eighth in career shutouts.

Here is the complete list of all-conference team awards and winners:

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

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

The Falcons, so far this season, have posted an 11-5-2 overall record and 4-3-1 in MVC play. Bowling Green defeated UIC in the MVC Tournament Quarterfinals 4-1 and now advances to the semifinals to play the second-seeded Drake Bulldogs on Wednesday at 4 p.m.