-- Story provided by Calvin University Athletics --
Calvin University men's soccer players Oliver Akintade (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Chris Schau (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) were each United Soccer Coaches Division III All-Americans on Wednesday.
Both players were named Second Team All-America by the organization one day after being named All-Region First Team.
Akintade, a junior midfielder, was received Second Team All-America honors from the United Soccer Coaches for the second consecutive season. Akintade finished the 2022 season with 11 goals, three assists and 25 points.
Akintade finished second in all three of those statistical categories despite missing three games due to injury during the season. After coming back from injury on October 11, Akintade scored seven goals in his next seven games, including at least one score in six different games.
For his career, Akintade has 26 goals and 65 points in 50 games. Along with being a two-time All-American, Akintade is a three-time All-MIAA First Team honoree.
Schau, a senior forward, was the top scoring threat for the Knights this season and finished with a team (and MIAA) best 13 goals. Schau also led the team and MIAA in points (31) and shots (56) this season.
A 2022 MIAA Most Valuable Player and two-time All-MIAA First Team honoree, Schau came through in a number of critical moments for the Knights. He led the team with five game-winning goals, including his memorable wonder-strike from outside the box at Hope in 1-0 win on October 8.
Schau more than doubled his career goal total coming into the season in 2022 and now has 24 goals for his career.
Akintade and Schau helped lead the Knights to a 17-3-2 overall record and their 16th consecutive MIAA regular season championship in 2022. The Knights also won the MIAA Tournament, and won their first game of the NCAA Tournament thanks to a 5-0 win over Carnegie Mellon before falling at Kenyon in the second round.
COACH'S COMMENT: "What an incredible recognition from our national coaching body for Chris and Oliver," Calvin men's soccer head coach Ryan Souders said. "These guys were fantastic for us this year and to see that rewarded is great. Also, a huge credit to the entire squad. To have any players recognized at this level speaks to the year the team was able to have and the buy in from the collective group."
