Ors Navarro, Stratford Earn Major Awards to Highlight All-Sun Belt Selections
November 08, 2024 01:30 PM | Men's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Nov. 8, 2024) – The West Virginia University men's soccer team collected a few major awards on Friday as graduate student Sergio Ors Navarro was named Sun Belt Player & Offensive Player of the Year while head coach Dan Stratford was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
Additionally, Ors Navarro, graduate midfielder Ryan Baer, and defender Max Broughton were named All-Sun Belt First Team while junior forward Marcus Caldeira and redshirt-senior goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire earned spots on the All-Sun Belt Second Team.
Ors Navarro is the third Mountaineer in program history to be named Conference Player of the Year after Andy Bevin and Joey Piatczyc earned MAC Player of the Year in 2014 and 2018, respectively.
The Castellon, Spain native led the Sun Belt with 28 points on a league-leading 12 goals and four assists. He is currently 10th in the nation in both points and goals and 27th with three game-winning goals.
Stratford earns his first Sun Belt Coach of the Year award, joining former Mountaineer head coaches Paul Marco (Big East - 1999) and Marlon LeBlanc (Big East – 2006, MAC – 2014, 2018) to earn conference coach of the year honors.
Stratford has led the Mountaineers to a 10-1-6 overall record this season and a 5-0-4 mark in conference play, winning the program's first Sun Belt regular season title. It is the second major award for Stratford at WVU after winning Top Drawer Soccer National Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading the Mountaineers to the NCAA College Cup.
Baer earns the first All-Sun Belt honor of his career after starting 16 games this season and accumulating 1,173 minutes in the midfield. A team captain, Baer has helped a defense that has allowed just 1.00 goals per game and only 0.667 goals per game against Sun Belt opponents. The Huntersville, North Carolina native also has one assist on the season.
Broughton has been the anchor for WVU's stout defense, playing in all 17 games with 16 starts and has played the most minutes of any field player for the Mountaineers with 1,404 on the year. The Rawtenstall, England native has been a key reason to WVU's nine shutouts, the most in the Sun Belt, as opponents are registering just 3.17 shots on goal per game.
Caldeira earns All-Sun Belt honors for the second year in a row after being named to the first team in 2023. The Mississauga, Ontario native was second on the team with eight goals, seventh-most in the conference. He also had one assist, giving him 17 points on the season. It adds to the list of accolades for Caldeira as he was named an All-American and Academic All-American in 2023 in addition to being selected 20th overall by Minnesota United F.C. in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft.
In his first year as the starting goalkeeper for the Mountaineers, Bonnaire shined in the net with seven clean sheets, the most in the conference, including four during Sun Belt action. The Warrenton, Virginia native has made 33 saves on the year and allowed just 0.75 goals per game in eight conference matches.
Top-seeded West Virginia returns to the pitch on Sunday, Nov. 10 for the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Championship against Georgia Southern. Kickoff from Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium is set for 3 p.m.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Additionally, Ors Navarro, graduate midfielder Ryan Baer, and defender Max Broughton were named All-Sun Belt First Team while junior forward Marcus Caldeira and redshirt-senior goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire earned spots on the All-Sun Belt Second Team.
Ors Navarro is the third Mountaineer in program history to be named Conference Player of the Year after Andy Bevin and Joey Piatczyc earned MAC Player of the Year in 2014 and 2018, respectively.
The Castellon, Spain native led the Sun Belt with 28 points on a league-leading 12 goals and four assists. He is currently 10th in the nation in both points and goals and 27th with three game-winning goals.
Stratford earns his first Sun Belt Coach of the Year award, joining former Mountaineer head coaches Paul Marco (Big East - 1999) and Marlon LeBlanc (Big East – 2006, MAC – 2014, 2018) to earn conference coach of the year honors.
Stratford has led the Mountaineers to a 10-1-6 overall record this season and a 5-0-4 mark in conference play, winning the program's first Sun Belt regular season title. It is the second major award for Stratford at WVU after winning Top Drawer Soccer National Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading the Mountaineers to the NCAA College Cup.
Baer earns the first All-Sun Belt honor of his career after starting 16 games this season and accumulating 1,173 minutes in the midfield. A team captain, Baer has helped a defense that has allowed just 1.00 goals per game and only 0.667 goals per game against Sun Belt opponents. The Huntersville, North Carolina native also has one assist on the season.
Broughton has been the anchor for WVU's stout defense, playing in all 17 games with 16 starts and has played the most minutes of any field player for the Mountaineers with 1,404 on the year. The Rawtenstall, England native has been a key reason to WVU's nine shutouts, the most in the Sun Belt, as opponents are registering just 3.17 shots on goal per game.
Caldeira earns All-Sun Belt honors for the second year in a row after being named to the first team in 2023. The Mississauga, Ontario native was second on the team with eight goals, seventh-most in the conference. He also had one assist, giving him 17 points on the season. It adds to the list of accolades for Caldeira as he was named an All-American and Academic All-American in 2023 in addition to being selected 20th overall by Minnesota United F.C. in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft.
In his first year as the starting goalkeeper for the Mountaineers, Bonnaire shined in the net with seven clean sheets, the most in the conference, including four during Sun Belt action. The Warrenton, Virginia native has made 33 saves on the year and allowed just 0.75 goals per game in eight conference matches.
Top-seeded West Virginia returns to the pitch on Sunday, Nov. 10 for the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Championship against Georgia Southern. Kickoff from Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium is set for 3 p.m.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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