BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's soccer team saw a school-record four of its members earn All-Heartland Conference honors when the All-HCAC hardware was handed out on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. Dalton Taynor (Troy/Miami East) Maxwell Kennedy (Strongsville) and Angel Velasco-Urbina (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) netted 2nd Team honors, while Elijah Zimmerman (Archbold) was an Honorable Mention All-HCAC selection.
Although the cement on the 2021 season has not yet been completely set, Taynor has secured his 3rd All-Heartland Conference award for his work this year. He leads the conference with 2.0 points per game and his 12 goals rank 2nd despite missing the first four conference contests. His 37 shots are 5th in the HCAC.
Taynor's 34 goals place him 4th all-time, just two away from Ethan Gauntt in 3rd who netted 36 career tallies. He is a three-time HCAC Offensive Player of the Week and a two-time 2nd Team All-HCAC selection. Taynor is 5th all-time with 73 points to date. Two game winners for Dalton in 2021 have pushed him into a tie with Nate Flath for top all-time honors with six game winners as a Beaver.
Junior Max Kennedy is the swiss army knife for Bluffton. A heady defender, Kennedy added to his impressive resume with the game winner at Transylvania when his free kick in overtime gave the Beavers just their second win over the Pioneers in school history. Kennedy takes care of free kicks, corner kicks and he was a perfect 2-of-2 on penalty kicks as well. He scored 10 points on just 13 shots and played an integral role in Bluffton allowing just 1.54 goals per match. He has six goals and four assists for 16 career points.
Velasco-Urbina found a home in the starting lineup on day one and the Beavers never looked back. The freshman keeper pitched two shutouts in his first four matches and Bluffton was on its way. Velasco-Urbina was a two-time HCAC Defensive Player of the Week and his back-to back road shutouts at Manchester and Anderson propelled his Beavers to their first-ever Heartland Conference Tournament victory and semi-final berth! His 1.38 goals against average and .796 save percentage are both 3rd in the conference.
The five shutouts by Velasco-Urbina are a single-season record and they already have him tied for 2nd on the career list. His .333 shutouts per match are also 3rd in the conference. He is tied for 3rd all-time with eight victories between the pipes.
Taynor and his wingman gave the Beavers the top 1-2 scoring punch in the Heartland Conference. Zimmerman found the back of the net 10 times and he added an assist for 21 points. His five game winners (tied for 1st in the HCAC) are a single-season school record and they leave him just one away from Nate Flath and Dalton Taynor's six career game winners. He is 5th in the HCAC with 1.31 points per match, while his double-digit goals are tied for 4th in the conference. Zimmerman was also 4th in the HCAC with 55 shots and 27 on frame.
The HCAC sportsmanship award was developed as part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative in 2009. Members of the All-HCAC Sportsmanship team are selected by the coaches and their teammates as individuals who demonstrate the ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field/court of competition. Nominees must have demonstrated consistently the values of respect, and integrity in his or her daily participation in intercollegiate athletics. Senior Jacob Kiger (Groveport/St. Charles Prep) was recognized from Bluffton Men's Soccer.
Bluffton will travel to number 2 seed Hanover College for a 2 p.m. kickoff in the Heartland Conference semi-final on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
-BEAVERS-