Denton, Caton Win Specialty Awards; Eight Bears Earn All-MVC Honors
November 07, 2023 | Men's Soccer
ST. LOUIS - Eight Missouri State men's soccer players were awarded 2023 All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, the league announced Tuesday evening.
Two Bears were distinguished with specialty awards. Jack Denton was named MVC Midfielder of the Year and Tyler Caton was named MVC Freshman of the Year.
Missouri State was also awarded the Valley's Fair Play Award having the fewest penalty cards in the conference. The Bears only have cards in regular season play and have committed the fewest fouls in the nation (126).
Denton and senior forward Jesus Barea both made the All-MVC First Team. Five other Bears, senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend, senior defender Javier Martin Gil, junior defender Michael Peck, senior midfielder Kian Yari and sophomore forward Gijs Hovius, were named to the All-MVC Second Team.
The eight players recognized across the first, second and freshman teams are tied with No. 16 Western Michigan for the most All-MVC players this season.
Denton, in his sixth season with the Bears, wins Midfielder of the Year for the second straight season. He is the first player in conference history to win the award multiple times. Denton has scored a career-high three goals this season, including one in each of the first two games against then-No. 14 Maryland and Kansas City. He started all 15 regular season games and enters the MVC Tournament with 78 career starts, sixth in program history. His three assists in 2023 bring him to 19 in his career which is also sixth all-time at Missouri State. Denton makes his fourth straight year all-conference team, including back-to-back first team appearances.
Caton is the third Missouri State Bear to win MVC Freshman of the Year or Newcomer of the Year, following Matt Caution (1993) and Mark Modersohn (1997). The award was a Newcomer of the Year award from 1991-95 and Freshman of the Year from 1996-present. The freshman from Surrey, England made seven starts with appearances in all 15 regular season games. Both of his assists were game-winners against Maryland and Belmont.
Jesus Barea joins Denton on the first team. Last season's MVC Player of the Year reached the first team ranks for the second consecutive season. Barea won the MVC Offensive Player of the Week Award on October 31, his third weekly award in his career. His five goals are tied for the most on the team this season, with three of them being game-winning goals. He also leads the team with four assists. Barea scored a goal in each of the last two regular season games.
Barea ended the regular season with 26 of his 35 shots being on target, tied for the highest shot accuracy in the nation (.694). Missouri State as a team also leads the nation in that category with 104 of 196 shots being on goal.
Harry Townsend headlines the Missouri State inclusions on the All-MVC second team. The goalkeeper out of Cornwall, England makes his first All-Conference appearance allowing just nine goals across 15 games. His eight shutouts are tied for fourth in the nation after having a nation-leading 12 clean sheets last season. He has played every minute this season in net and has won two MVC Defensive Player of the Week awards this season. Townsend currently sits fifth in Missouri State history with 22 career shutouts, just one away from tying Alex Riggs (2006-2010) for fourth.
Javier Martin Gil secured an all-MVC nod for the second year in a row after making the first team in 2022. He has started in all 15 games for the Bears and played 1,265 minutes, good for the fourth most on the team. Martin Gil scored the game-tying goal against Tulsa and has two assists in 2023 against VCU and Bowling Green. Much like most of his fellow all-conference teammates, he earned a Defensive Player of the Week award on September 12.
Another Missouri State defender, Michael Peck, made the all-MVC second team in a similar fashion as Martin Gil. Peck has played the second-most minutes this season behind Townsend, playing all but 39 minutes all year. He also has a Defensive Player of the Week notch under his belt from October 3 and has a game-tying goal as well against Saint Louis.
Peck, an all-MVC freshman in 2021, has been a key piece in Missouri State's +18 goal differential (27-9), which is tied for 20th in the nation. The nine goals allowed by the Bears' defense are the second-fewest in the nation only behind Bryant (4).
A perennial all-conference entry, Kian Yari made his fourth consecutive all-MVC team after being on the All-Freshman team in 2019. Yari has appeared in all 15 games with 13 starts in 2023. He has three assists this season, including one in the regular season finale against Drake, to bring his career total to 21 which sits third in Missouri State history.
In his first season as a Bear, Gijs Hovius rounds out the Missouri State all-MVC selections after his breakout year. The Coffeyville Community College transfer is tied for the team lead with five goals, including a brace he had in Missouri State's 6-0 win over Bradley on September 30. Hovius has played in 12 games this season and earned a spot in the starting lineup in the last five regular season games.
Missouri State (10-2-3, 6-1-1) begins its MVC Tournament with its eighth straight semifinal appearance. The No. 2 seed Bears will take on No. 3 seed UIC (11-4-3, 4-2-2) on Wednesday, November 8 at 10:00 a.m. CT in Kalamazoo, Michigan with the game on ESPN+.
Two Bears were distinguished with specialty awards. Jack Denton was named MVC Midfielder of the Year and Tyler Caton was named MVC Freshman of the Year.
Missouri State was also awarded the Valley's Fair Play Award having the fewest penalty cards in the conference. The Bears only have cards in regular season play and have committed the fewest fouls in the nation (126).
Denton and senior forward Jesus Barea both made the All-MVC First Team. Five other Bears, senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend, senior defender Javier Martin Gil, junior defender Michael Peck, senior midfielder Kian Yari and sophomore forward Gijs Hovius, were named to the All-MVC Second Team.
The eight players recognized across the first, second and freshman teams are tied with No. 16 Western Michigan for the most All-MVC players this season.
Denton, in his sixth season with the Bears, wins Midfielder of the Year for the second straight season. He is the first player in conference history to win the award multiple times. Denton has scored a career-high three goals this season, including one in each of the first two games against then-No. 14 Maryland and Kansas City. He started all 15 regular season games and enters the MVC Tournament with 78 career starts, sixth in program history. His three assists in 2023 bring him to 19 in his career which is also sixth all-time at Missouri State. Denton makes his fourth straight year all-conference team, including back-to-back first team appearances.
Caton is the third Missouri State Bear to win MVC Freshman of the Year or Newcomer of the Year, following Matt Caution (1993) and Mark Modersohn (1997). The award was a Newcomer of the Year award from 1991-95 and Freshman of the Year from 1996-present. The freshman from Surrey, England made seven starts with appearances in all 15 regular season games. Both of his assists were game-winners against Maryland and Belmont.
Jesus Barea joins Denton on the first team. Last season's MVC Player of the Year reached the first team ranks for the second consecutive season. Barea won the MVC Offensive Player of the Week Award on October 31, his third weekly award in his career. His five goals are tied for the most on the team this season, with three of them being game-winning goals. He also leads the team with four assists. Barea scored a goal in each of the last two regular season games.
Barea ended the regular season with 26 of his 35 shots being on target, tied for the highest shot accuracy in the nation (.694). Missouri State as a team also leads the nation in that category with 104 of 196 shots being on goal.
Harry Townsend headlines the Missouri State inclusions on the All-MVC second team. The goalkeeper out of Cornwall, England makes his first All-Conference appearance allowing just nine goals across 15 games. His eight shutouts are tied for fourth in the nation after having a nation-leading 12 clean sheets last season. He has played every minute this season in net and has won two MVC Defensive Player of the Week awards this season. Townsend currently sits fifth in Missouri State history with 22 career shutouts, just one away from tying Alex Riggs (2006-2010) for fourth.
Javier Martin Gil secured an all-MVC nod for the second year in a row after making the first team in 2022. He has started in all 15 games for the Bears and played 1,265 minutes, good for the fourth most on the team. Martin Gil scored the game-tying goal against Tulsa and has two assists in 2023 against VCU and Bowling Green. Much like most of his fellow all-conference teammates, he earned a Defensive Player of the Week award on September 12.
Another Missouri State defender, Michael Peck, made the all-MVC second team in a similar fashion as Martin Gil. Peck has played the second-most minutes this season behind Townsend, playing all but 39 minutes all year. He also has a Defensive Player of the Week notch under his belt from October 3 and has a game-tying goal as well against Saint Louis.
Peck, an all-MVC freshman in 2021, has been a key piece in Missouri State's +18 goal differential (27-9), which is tied for 20th in the nation. The nine goals allowed by the Bears' defense are the second-fewest in the nation only behind Bryant (4).
A perennial all-conference entry, Kian Yari made his fourth consecutive all-MVC team after being on the All-Freshman team in 2019. Yari has appeared in all 15 games with 13 starts in 2023. He has three assists this season, including one in the regular season finale against Drake, to bring his career total to 21 which sits third in Missouri State history.
In his first season as a Bear, Gijs Hovius rounds out the Missouri State all-MVC selections after his breakout year. The Coffeyville Community College transfer is tied for the team lead with five goals, including a brace he had in Missouri State's 6-0 win over Bradley on September 30. Hovius has played in 12 games this season and earned a spot in the starting lineup in the last five regular season games.
Missouri State (10-2-3, 6-1-1) begins its MVC Tournament with its eighth straight semifinal appearance. The No. 2 seed Bears will take on No. 3 seed UIC (11-4-3, 4-2-2) on Wednesday, November 8 at 10:00 a.m. CT in Kalamazoo, Michigan with the game on ESPN+.
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