IRVING, Texas – Tulsa sophomore forward Alex Meinhard became the third player in American Athletic Conference men’s soccer history to repeat as the league’s top offensive player, as voted on by the conference’s six head coaches. Meinhard, the unanimous American Offensive Player of the Year last season, led the 2021 major award winners announced by The American on Tuesday.
 
Tulsa senior defender Mariano Fazio captured American Defensive Player of the Year honors, Tulsa senior midfielder Henry Sach earned the first American Midfielder of the Year award for the Golden Hurricane, Tulsa freshman Alex Lopez and South Florida junior Kazuna Takase were named the American Goalkeepers of the Year and Lopez also earned American Rookie of the Year plaudits. Head coach Tom McIntosh and his Tulsa staff were recognized as the unanimous American Coaching Staff of the Year and the Golden Hurricane added the Team Fair Play Award to its 2021 haul.
 
A total of 22 players from five member institutions that compete in men’s soccer in The American brought home all-conference plaudits, with American Men’s Soccer Championship host Tulsa notching six total honorees (five on the first team) to match second-seeded UCF, who also had six players on all-conference teams (five on the second team). Meinhard, Tulsa graduate defender Chase Bromstedt and UCF sophomore forward Lucca Dourado were each unanimous first-team selections. Three players from both UCF and Memphis were tabbed to the American All-Rookie Team to lead all conference sides.
 
Meinhard joined UCF’s Matias Pyysalo (2016-17) and Cal Jennings (2018-19) as consecutive winners of American Offensive Player of the Year. Meinhard led The American with 26 points and 4.00 shots per game in just 12 regular-season appearances, sharing the conference goals lead as of Nov. 9 with UCF’s Dourado at 12.
 
Fazio became the second Tulsa player to earn American Defensive Player of the Year, joining Bradley Bourgeois in 2015. Fazio started on the Golden Hurricane back line in all 15 matches in the regular season, tallying a goal in his season debut at Creighton on Aug. 26. The Tulsa defense has held the opposition to 158 shots for the season, including just 58 on goal (3.9 per match), and has logged a conference-high seven shutouts.
 
Sach emerged as a strong player in the midfield for Tulsa, logging 14 starts and tallying six points (two goals and two assists) during the regular season. Both of Sach’s goals were match-winners taken from the penalty spot. He attempted 14 total shots during the campaign, with six shots finding frame.
 
Lopez, the first Tulsa goalkeeper to earn American Goalkeeper of the Year honors, also became the first true freshman to claim the award in conference history. Lopez was also the first goalkeeper in The American to capture league rookie of the year. Lopez led the conference during the regular season with a 0.79 goals-against average in 14 matches, tying for the league lead with six solo shutouts. In 10 conference matches, Lopez paced all American keepers with a 0.91 GAA against league opposition.
 
Takase picked up American Goalkeeper of the Year plaudits after a sensational showing for South Florida in only eight matches, Takase led the conference in save percentage (.778) and ranked third in GAA (1.25) and solo shutouts (3). Takase put together a 4-2-2 record for the Bulls in his eight starts and turned in a season-high eight saves in a win over Memphis on Oct. 15.
 
Tulsa head coach Tom McIntosh and his staff were tabbed American Coaching Staff of the Year for the second year in a row after compiling arguably the best regular season performance in conference history. The Golden Hurricane established a league record with eight wins and 25 points in American play to lock down the No. 1 seed in the American Men’s Soccer Championship as the tournament host. Tulsa was ranked eighth in the Nov. 7 NCAA RPI rankings to lead The American and firmly place itself in the mix to host early rounds of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. The Golden Hurricane is an impressive 10-1-1 (.875) against the current RPI Top 100.
 
2021 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Awards
 
Offensive Player of the Year
Alex Meinhard, So., F, Tulsa*
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Mariano Fazio, Sr., D, Tulsa
 
Midfielder of the Year
Henry Sach, Sr., Tulsa
 
Goalkeepers Of The Year
Alex Lopez, Fr., Tulsa
Kazuna Takase, Jr., South Florida
 
Rookie of the Year
Alex Lopez, Fr., GK, Tulsa
 
Coaching Staff of the Year
Tulsa*
 
Team Fair Play Award
Tulsa
 
First Team All-Conference
GK – Alex Lopez, Fr., Tulsa
F – Lucca Dourado, So., UCF*
F – Maxi Galizzi, Sr., Memphis
F – Alex Meinhard, So., Tulsa*
M – Shion Soga, Fr., South Florida
M – Knut Ahlander, Sr., SMU
M – Skage Simonsen, Sr., SMU
M – Henry Sach, Sr., Tulsa
D – Artur De Luca, Sr., Memphis
D – Chase Bromstedt, Grad, Tulsa*
D – Mariano Fazio, Sr., Tulsa
 
Second Team All-Conference
GK – Kazuna Takase, Jr., South Florida
F – Gino Vivi, Jr., UCF
F – Malik Henry-Scott, So., Tulsa
M – Nick Taylor, 5th, UCF
M – Mauricio Villalobos, Sr., UCF
M – Toby McCallum, So., Memphis
M – Gabriel Costa, Sr., SMU
D – Yanis Leerman, Sr., UCF
D – Anderson Rosa, So., UCF
D – Brandon Terwege, Grad, SMU
D – Sal Mazzaferro, So. South Florida
 
All-Rookie Team
F – Kevin Andrews, UCF
GK – Tyler Lavigne, UCF
F – Lucas Mauro, UCF
M – Lineker Dos Santos, Memphis
M – Eric Primo, Memphis
GK – Colin Welsh, Memphis
D – Josh Gomina, South Florida
F/M – Bailey Sparks, SMU
D – Mads Westergren, SMU
D – Luka Kozomara, Temple
GK – Alex Lopez, Tulsa
 
*denotes unanimous selection