All-America Game: Boys Best XI

Selecting the Best XI from an All-America contest, where every player is an all-star, is a difficult task. However, after consultation with the coaching staff, the following players stood above the rest: <strong>GK: [player_tooltip player_id="12671" first="Ryan" last="Thompson"], Rockhurst Jesuit (Kan.), Tulsa</strong> This was a close call with Thompson getting the edge. He came up with one big save, and he was very strong on distributions throughout his 45 minutes in goal. <strong>D: [player_tooltip player_id="12596" first="Alex" last="Peters"], Christian Brothers (Mo.)</strong> There’s something about St. Louis defenders at the All-America Game -- they always show exceptionally well. He was a lock-down defender and served great diagonal balls to switch the point of attack. <strong>D: [player_tooltip player_id="12234" first="Zachary" last="Sardi-Santos"], Milton Academy (Mass.), Harvard</strong> A tough, smart defender who was able to gain possession and effectively move the ball forward. <strong>M: [player_tooltip player_id="29151" first="Kelvin" last="Baffour"], Taft School (Conn.), Notre Dame</strong> His pace was noticeable every time he touched the ball. He was able to carry the ball, and he made good decisions on passes. <strong>M: [player_tooltip player_id="14339" first="Noah" last="Behrmann"], Carmel Christian (N.C.), Clemson</strong> A very good athlete and a very smart player. He simply did not give away possession of the ball. Behrmann assisted the East’s first goal. <strong>M: [player_tooltip player_id="14519" first="Ashton" last="Bilow"], New Albany (Ohio), Ohio State</strong> He was smooth with the ball and showed a high soccer IQ. He basically ran the middle for the West squad. <strong>M: [player_tooltip player_id="34575" first="Augustine" last="Boadi"], Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.), Boston College</strong> Boadi was selected as the East MVP. His energy and moves with the ball were impressive. <strong>M: [player_tooltip player_id="9457" first="William" last="Cleary"], Loomis Chaffee (Conn.), Stanford</strong> He was a box-to-box midfielder and did all the defensive dirty work in a game where the defenders struggled to handle the attacking players. <strong>M: [player_tooltip player_id="14645" first="Luciano" last="Pechota"], St. Ignatius (Ohio), Ohio State</strong> He was crafty with the ball and showed great soccer knowledge. He dropped back as a second No. 6 for the West, a decision that was his idea, and that interrupted the East attack. He was able to start the counters for the West by playing the deep role. <strong>F: [player_tooltip player_id="14534" first="Brock" last="Kiper"], Archbishop Moeller (Ohio), Belmont</strong> Kiper was named the West MVP after scoring the match-winning goal in a 3-2 victory. After moving from mid to forward, he dominated play in the second half. He has sneaky good pace for a big forward. <strong>F: [player_tooltip player_id="9427" first="Oliver" last="Martin"], Loomis Chaffee (Conn.), Michigan</strong> A high-energy player who was good on the ball and showed great pace. He made several nice runs to create opportunities. <strong>SPECIAL MENTION</strong> F: [player_tooltip player_id="11359" first="Palmer" last="Ault"], Noblesville (Ind.) F: [player_tooltip player_id="32326" first="Liam" last="Doyle"], Northwood School (N.Y.), Stanford F: [player_tooltip player_id="18490" first="Mitchell" last="Dryden"], Whitefish Bay (Wis.) D: [player_tooltip player_id="18476" first="Langdon" last="Gryglas"], Arrowhead (Wis.) F: [player_tooltip player_id="29182" first="Jacob" last="Murrell"], McDonogh School (Md.), Georgetown M: [player_tooltip player_id="29254" first="Lucas" last="Nesthus"], Pewaukee (Wis.), Marquette GK: [player_tooltip player_id="29203" first="Rafa" last="Ponce de Leon"], Penningon School (N.J.), Villanova F: [player_tooltip player_id="14630" first="Josip" last="Rimac"], St. Ignatius (Ohio) D: [player_tooltip player_id="32286" first="Adrian" last="Trott"], South Kent School (Conn.) M: [player_tooltip player_id="13153" first="Yuxuan" last="Yang"], Pennington School (N.J.)