FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- After a well-earned second-place finish to close out the regular season, the Albion College men's soccer team had seven student-athletes earn All-MIAA honors, including the league's Freshman of the Year, Robin Ruigendijk.
Albion placed three student-athletes on the All-MIAA First Team while four landed on the Second Team. The Britons seven honorees marked their highest total since the 2006 season.
Ruigendijk highlighted Albion's award winners, as the first-year talent claimed MIAA Freshman of the Year honors and a spot on the First Team. He is the first Briton to claim the award since it originated in 2011 as the MIAA Newcomer of the Week.
The pacey winger picked up two MIAA Athlete of the Week honors this fall and finished atop the conference with nine assists. Ruigendijk tallied six goals to bring his point total to 21, which ranked fifth in the league. On the national stage, the Niewerkerk aan den Ijssel, Netherlands, currently ranks 19th in assists and assists per game (0.56).
Esteban Mercado and Lucas Anderson joined Ruigendijk on the All-MIAA First Team. Mercado earned the second All-MIAA nod of his career after landing on the second team a year ago. Mercado paced the Brits in points (25) and goals (11). The sophomore tallied 10 of his 25 points in conference action and ended the season ranked third in the conference in points.
Anderson, a transfer from nearby Concordia, acquitted himself nicely to the MIAA. He logged over 1,300 minutes in the heart of Albion's defense and helped the Britons register eight clean sheets over the course of the season, picking up one MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week award along the way.
On the Second Team, Albion was well-represented by Xavier Yuille, Khalil Camara, Binck-Jan Bakker, and Joshua Jasinkiewicz.
Yuille was among the top-point getters in the conference this season. The junior tallied 22 points on nine goals and four assists, which ranked fourth in the MIAA. He was named MIAA Offensive Athlete of the Week once during the campaign.
Camara served as a midfield engine for the Britons. The Florence, New Jersey, native totaled over 1,000 minutes in the center of the park and netted a pair of goals across 15 games played.
Bakker joined Anderson to form one of the top defensive tandems across the MIAA. The sophomore played a team-leading 1401 minutes and registered one assist from the back. Early in the season, the Rotterdam, Netherlands native earned the first MIAA weekly honor of his career.
Jasinkiewicz rounded out Albion's All-MIAA representatives. The freshman played 15 games, totaling 972 minutes. He played the full 90 minutes in seven contests. As an outside back, he supplied a pair of goals and an assist as an outside back.
View the full list of All-MIAA honorees here.
