Lombardo, King lead list of 7 Polar Bears named All-OAC in Men’s Soccer
By Wes Mayberry
| 2021 All-OAC Men's Soccer Team (.pdf) |
ADA — Ohio Northern seniors John Lombardo (Solon) and Levi King (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) earned superlatives as Ohio Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and Midfielder of the Year, respectively, leading a list of seven Polar Bear men's soccer players earning 2021 All-OAC honors in voting conducted by the league's 10 head coaches.
Seniors Caiman Moore (Linden, Mich.), Seth Gundlach (Wilmington) and Bryan Kern (Rocky River) were named Second Team All-Conference.
Seniors Cameron Picard (Dayton/Wayne) and Matt Studenic (Wadsworth) were Third Team All-OAC honorees.
A four-year starter for the Polar Bears, Lombardo is now a two-time OAC Goalkeeper of the Year honoree after earning the accolade as a junior in the 2020 season.
He finished 2021 with 65 saves, a .765 save percentage and 0.97 GAA while tallying nine shutouts. He led the OAC in shutouts, ranked third in GAA and earned All-OAC Tournament recognition and an OAC Player of the Week honor this season.
Lombardo's nine shutouts tie his total from 2019, which is the eighth-best single-season mark in school history. His 25 career shutouts and 208 career saves rank third and eighth, respectively, in program history, and he boasts a career record of 36-21-7.
King, who was the OAC's Freshman of the Year in 2018, is now a four-time All-OAC selection after being named to the Second Team in 2018 and the First Team in 2019 and 2020.
His OAC Midfielder of the Year accolade comes on the heels of tallying 20 points via six goals and eight assists in 2021.
King led the Polar Bears in points and assists and ranked third on the team in goals. His totals in those categories ranked sixth, second and tied for 11th, respectively, in the OAC.
King now has 85 points in his career with 32 goals and 21 assists in 74 games played. His point total ranks eighth all-time at ONU, and he sits just outside the program's top 10 in career goals and assists.
Moore, a three-year starter on the Polar Bears' defense, is a Second Team All-OAC selection for the second straight season. He was part of an ONU defense that limited opponents to just 12.8 shots and 0.95 goals per game to go with 10 shutouts.
Gundlach, a three-year starter at forward, is now a three-time All-OAC honoree after earning Second Team honors as a sophomore and Honorable Mention status as a junior. He found a groove late in the season, scoring five goals in four games spanning Oct. 23 to Nov. 2 in helping ONU go 3-0-1 in those matches.
A 2021 All-OAC Tournament selection, Gundlach finished the season with 19 points on eight goals and three assists. He tied freshman Trevor Tabb (Toledo/Springfield) for the team lead in goals and ranked second on the team in points with totals that ranked tied for sixth and tied for seventh in the OAC, respectively.
Gundlach has 43 points in his ONU career courtesy of 18 goals and seven assists in 54 games played.
Kern, another forward, attempted an OAC-leading 63 shots this season and was tied for fourth in the conference in shots on goal with 25. He finished with nine points on three goals and three assists, giving him 27 points in his career courtesy of 10 goals and seven assists in 60 games played.
Picard, a two-year starter for the ONU defense, earns his first All-OAC accolade after tallying six points this season on two goals and two assists. His goal in a 3-1 win at Westminster (Pa.) marked the first of his career.
Studenic, a three-year starter in the midfield, earns his second consecutive All-OAC Third Team selection after tallying three assists in 2021.
In 71 career matches, Studenic has 12 points on three goals and six assists.
The Polar Bears finished the season 11-7-3 overall and fourth in the OAC with a 5-4-1 mark under third-year head coach Chris Matejka.