GREENWOOD, Ind. - Five Missouri State men's soccer players have been named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team, the organization announced Tuesday afternoon. Senior forward Jesus Barea, junior forward Ollie Bate, sophomore midfielder Tyler Caton, redshirt junior midfielder Alex Matthews and senior forward Fumiya Shiraishi represent the Bears on the team.

All five Missouri State Bears made the team based on the criteria of having at least a 3.50 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) and having played in at least 90% of the team's games or having started in 66% of the team's games.

Barea (Cádiz, Spain) makes his third consecutive appearance on the CSC Academic All-District in a career year. Barea enters the NCAA Tournament third in the nation in goals (15), which is tied for the second-most goals in a single season in Missouri State history. He was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year for the second time in his career, becoming the first Bear to win the award twice. He was also the league's Forward of the Year and made the All-MVC first team. Barea became the program's all-time leader in shots taken (259). He is also second in program history in career starts (84), tied for second in career goals (34) and third in career points (86). Barea is majoring in exercise & movement science.

Bate (Yorkshire, England) makes his first career appearance on the CSC Academic All-District Team. The junior has made a career-high 16 starts this season while matching his totals from last year in goals (1) and assists (2). Bate was last year's MVC men's soccer Elite 17 Award winner, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing at the finals site at each of the MVC team championships. Bate has taken a career-high 10 shots this season and cracked 1,000 minutes played in a season for the first time in his career. Bate is majoring in exercise & movement science.

Caton (Surrey, England) also makes his first career appearance on the CSC Academic All-District Team in his first season eligible. The 2023 MVC Freshman of the Year continued his streak of specialty awards by being named the 2024 MVC Co-Midfielder of the Year. He was named to the All-MVC First Team and made the MVC All-Tournament Team for the second year in a row. Caton has started all 17 matches for the Bears so far this season and registered a career-high four assists, tied for the team-most. Caton is majoring in entertainment management.

Matthews (Derbyshire, England) earns his first career CSC Academic All-District Team appearance after starting all 17 matches for Missouri State. He was one of three Bears to make the All-MVC First Team in 2024. Matthews leads Missouri State with 1,503 minutes played and has a career-high two assists so far in 2024. He has contributed to the team's +23 goal differential and its 221-98 shot differential. Matthews is majoring in journalism.

Shiraishi (Tokyo, England) rounds out the Missouri State representatives on the CSC Academic All-District Team with his first career selection. In his first season with the team, Shiraishi is third on the team with five goals while also tying the team lead with four assists. He has played all 17 matches with 11 starts so far in 2024. He was named MVC Player of the Week on Oct. 8 following a last-minute game-winning goal against Creighton and a brace against Northern Illinois. Shiraishi is majoring in general studies.

The 2024-25 Academic All-District Men's Soccer teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes men's soccer honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

CSC Academic All-America first-, second- and third-team honorees for men's soccer will be announced on Tuesday, Dec. 10. A select group of student-athletes advance from Academic All-District submission status to the Academic All-America ballot.