SEWARD, Neb. – Three Bulldogs represented the GPAC tournament runner-up Concordia University men’s soccer team on either the conference’s first or second team, as announced by the league on Monday (Nov. 14). Junior Florian Caraballo and senior Marcelo Hernandez both garnered first team honors while junior Micah Lehenbauer found himself on the second team. Five other Bulldogs collected honorable mention accolades: junior Toby Down, freshman Carlos Ferrer, sophomore Aries Fung, senior Mark Horsburgh and junior Lewis Rathbone.
Caraballo, a native of Cordoba, Spain, started all 20 games as a defender for a Bulldog squad limited opponents to an average of 1.15 goals per game (third in the GPAC). He also contributed two assists. A transfer, Caraballo previously attended Marshalltown Community College.
Hernandez also made his Concordia debut in 2016. While starting 17 games, the native of Quito, Ecuador, tied a team high with eight goals. In addition, he assisted four goals. Four of Hernandez’s goals were game winners.
Like Caraballo, Lehenbauer started all 20 games. He shared the team goal scoring lead with Hernandez and chipped in three assists. The native of Kathleen, Ga., posted multi-goal games against Nebraska Wesleyan and Mount Marty.
A two-year starter, Horsburgh started every game in goal this season and recorded four shutouts. He also equaled a career best with 84 saves while posting a save percentage of .785 and a goals against average of 1.185. During his career, Horsburgh played in nearly 4,000 minutes and put up 202 saves and 14 shutouts.
Rathbone was a second team all-GPAC choice last season. He tallied three of his five goals in 2016 during postseason play. Ferrer totaled five goals and three assists over 20 games (18 starts). Down played in 18 games and posted one goal and two assists. Fung saw action in 17 games, posting two goals and one assist.
The season concluded last week with a 3-1 loss at No. 2 Hastings in the GPAC tournament championship game. Head coach Jason Weides’ program reached the GPAC title contest for the second-straight year.