Union Men’s Soccer Claims Majority of AAC Awards for Third Straight Season

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. – The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) announced its 2025 Men's Soccer All-Conference Team and awards on Wednesday, with Union Commonwealth University dominating the list once again.

The Bulldogs nearly swept all seven major awards for the second consecutive year and claimed more than half of the conference honors for the third straight season. In addition, five Bulldogs were named to the All-AAC First Team.

Tyrique Bailey-Edwards headlined the awards, capturing three of the seven honors. Bailey-Edwards was named AAC Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year. This marks the second straight season a Bulldog has earned both Player and Defensive Player of the Year accolades.

Freshman Laurin Fürmeier was recognized as AAC Freshman of the Year, making it the third consecutive year a Bulldog has received that honor. Both Bailey-Edwards and Fürmeier were key pieces of Union's nationally leading defensive unit.

For the third year in a row, Head Coach Jonathan Shaw was named AAC Coach of the Year. Shaw has guided the Bulldogs to their third consecutive appearance in the NAIA National Tournament and their second straight AAC Regular Season Championship.

Five Bulldogs earned All-AAC First Team recognition: Jordan Blake, Ron-Jay Watson, Bailey-Edwards, Fürmeier, and Gabriel Mendoza.

Isa Bramble was named to the AAC Champions of Character Team, adding to his list of accomplishments from the 2024 campaign.

Union also had 21 Bulldogs named to the AAC All-Academic Team: Dennis Böttcher, Bramble, Titus Craig, Zak Hardman, Luccas George, Jacob Knight, Samuel Londono, Gianni Loska, Ryan Massoud, Arie Muttaqien, Donnique Ngugi, Piotr Olszewski, Frank Osborne, Oriol Gásquez Pérez, Noris Rombeck, Carlos Sainz, Abdelmohsen Sami, Oskar Szalaty, Shane Van Den Aardweg, Jacob Woods, and Taha Zemmama.

The Bulldogs continue to lead the NAIA in defense, boasting a goals-against average of 0.29 and a national-best 14 shutouts on the season. Union will face Milligan in the AAC Championship on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 4 p.m. at Williamson Stadium.