Wheeling, W. Va. - The 2026 season was a big step forward for the Wheeling University Men's Soccer team, seeing the team put together a five-win improvement while being alive in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament race until the last day of the season. On Friday, the MEC released their Men's Soccer All-MEC team and two Cardinals would end up earning postseason honors. Redshirt junior forward Jon-Michael Gordon was named Honorable Mention All-MEC, while freshman forward Luis Yanes earned a spot on the MEC's All-Freshman Team.
Jon-Michael Gordon is being honored on the All-MEC list for the second time in his career after leading the Cardinal offense during the year. He would lead the Cardinals with six goals, while adding an assist to total 13 points on the season. He would be the Cardinal's third most efficient shooter, putting 46.9% of his shots on goal, while holding a .188 shooting percentage on the season. He would start his season strong, getting on the board twice in the team's 3-1 win over Walsh in the second game of the season, and would be a catalyst to his team's success. The Cardinals would go 3-1-1 in games where Gordon scored at least one goal as he established himself as one of the top scorers in the conference. His six goals were tied for fifth most in the conference, while he sat fifth in the conference in shots (34) and eighth in the MEC in shots on goal (16).
Luis Yanes is taking home his first All-MEC honor, being one of eight freshman honored on the conference's All-Freshman Team. Yanes would finish right behind Gordon, scoring five goals on the season and totaling 10 points in his freshman season. Like Gordon, Yanes would be an efficient shooter for the Cardinals throughout the season, putting 47.1% of his shots on net during the year while holding the second-highest shooting percentage on the team at .294. With Yanes being named to the All-Freshman team, the Wheeling Men's Soccer team has now had at least one representative on the list in each of the last five years, starting with the naming of former Cardinal Diego Buenano back in 2022. Gordon was part of that streak, making the list back in 2023, as Yanes carried on the strong freshman tradition on the team.
With the announcement of the All-MEC Men's Soccer list, the Wheeling University Athletic department has now had nine student-athletes named All-Conference players this season. The Wheeling Men's Soccer team had two honorees for the first time since the 2024 season, as they continue to grow the program into the future. The last team to be honored was the Wheeling Women's Golf team, who had three players named to their All-MEC Women's Golf team.
The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team now heads into the off-season as they look to build off their 2026 growth and come back stronger in 2027.
