Wheeling, W. Va. - Ahead of Tuesday night's Mountain East Conference (MEC) Quarterfinal matchups, the conference released their annual All-MEC Award winners for the 2022 season. The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (7-10-1, 7-8-1) are making their first trip back to the tournament since the 2018 season and had three players honored. Freshman Diego Buenano earned All-MEC First team, while also being named the MEC's Freshman of the Year, Richard Afolayanka earned All-MEC Second team, and TJ Cherry earned All-MEC Honorable Mention.
The trio helped lead Wheeling to their best season since that 2018 year, finishing 7-10-1 overall and 7-8-1 in MEC play. After rebuilding over the last two years, some of those key pieces fell into place mixed with strong contributions from newcomers to this year's team. The Cardinals finished as the fourth-highest scoring team in the conference, with 35 goals, and took the fourth most shots in the conference (218). They clinched their first playoff berth since the 2018 season when West Liberty tied West Virginia Wesleyan on Sunday, October 23rd, and secured their first home playoff game since the 2013 season when they defeated Alderson Broaddus 9-4.
Leading the list of award winners was freshman Diego Buenano, who earned All-MEC First Team honors as a Forward while also being named the MEC's Freshman of the Year. Buenano finished in a tie for first on the team with seven goals this season and added four assists to lead the Cardinals. He scored the most goals by a freshman player since David Heaty scored six goals back during the 2013 campaign. Buenano finished the year tied for 10th in the conference with seven goals while taking the third most shots (45). He has come in strong for the Cardinals and looks to be a leader on offense for years to come.
For the third season in a row, junior Richard Afolayanka earns All-MEC honors, but will be taking home his first All-MEC Second Team award of his career. Afolayanka set a new career-high with eight goals to lead the Cardinals, while adding two assists in his and putting just over 53% of his shots on net. Afolayanka finished eighth in the conference in goals this season, and the Cardinals are 4-1-1 in games where he has at least one goal. He has scored two goals in his last three games, both coming against Alderson Broaddus, as he looks to stay hot in the playoffs.
Rounding out the list of All-MEC award winners for the Cardinals is sophomore defender TJ Cherry, who was named All-MEC Honorable Mention. Cherry is the leader of Wheeling's back line as the team's center back and has been part of a strong defensive unit for the Cardinals. He has also begun to play a heightened role on the offensive side of the ball, finishing with one assist this past season to go along with three shots, one on goal.
The trio of Men's Soccer All-MEC award winners give the Cardinals four players that have been awarded this season. The Wheeling Women's Soccer team had one award winner earlier today when Mary DiFonzo was named All-MEC Honorable Mention. The three award winners for the Men's Soccer team are the most for the Cardinals since they had two award winners back in the 2019 season when Lucas Fievet and Josh Zimmerman won all conference awards.
The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team kicks off MEC Tournament play on Tuesday when they host the MEC Quarterfinal round against West Virginia Wesleyan at 7 PM.
