Story Links This preseason, the junior was named to United Soccer Coaches Midfielders to Watch List and ranked 40th In TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Player Rankings. After scoring game-winning goals against #9 Northwestern and Air Force, Hodson was named the MVC Offensive Player of the Week on September 10. The Western Michigan University men’s soccer team was […]
This preseason, the junior was named to United Soccer Coaches Midfielders to Watch List and ranked 40th In TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Player Rankings. After scoring game-winning goals against #9 Northwestern and Air Force, Hodson was named the MVC Offensive Player of the Week on September 10.
The Western Michigan University men’s soccer team was the only team in the Missouri Valley Conference with a student-athlete ranked inside the top 50 in the Freshman Postseason Top 100. Additionally, WMU tied Missouri State with an MVC high three TopDrawer Soccer Men’s Postseason Top 100 selections.
Christian Shannon — 16th At the conference level, Welsh tallied MVC Goalkeeper of the Year honors behind two MVC Defensive Player of the Week titles. Later, he received recognition for his excellent performance in net, with a United Soccer Coaches All-America Second Team nod. One month later on October 22, Hodgson tallied a personal best six points after recording his first career hat trick in The Brown and Gold’s 4-1 road win over Detroit Mercy. Following his offensive player of the week honor, the midfielder was named NCAA Men’s Soccer Player of The Week on October 23, by NCAA Digital after scoring his first career hat trick in the Bronco’s 4-1 road win at Detroit Mercy. Later, Hodgson was crowned MVC Offensive Player of the Week and was named to TopDrawerSoccer’s Team of the Week on October 29 for his efforts against the Titans. In 2024, Welsh started in all 20 matches for the Broncos and recorded 11 wins (tied for the third most in single-season program history) behind four shutouts. In net, the keeper tallied a goals-against average of 0.99 behind 78 saves. During the 2024 campaign, Welsh’s save percentage of 0.796 led all keepers that tallied at least 1800 minutes in goal. This year, the senior showcased his defensive dominance in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament first round versus Evansville University on November 10. In the match, Welsh recorded a season-high eight saves.This season, Hodgson started in all 21 matches for WMU and tallied six goals behind a career-high four game-winners. In the passing lane, Hodgson registered eight assists on the season behind two, three-assist outings. KALAMAZOO, Mich. — TopDrawerSoccer released its postseason player rankings Thursday. Redshirt freshman Christian Shannon, junior Carson Hodgson, senior Colin Welsh, and graduate student Owen Smith earned TDS Postseason Top 100 recognition for their performance on the pitch in 2024.Freshman Postseason Top 100
Welsh continues to earn postseason accolades for his performance in the net during 2024: Last week, St.Louis City SC selected the goalkeeper in the third round (67th overall) of the MLS SuperDraft. Owen Smith — 63rdAt the conclusion of the season, Shannon earned recognition for both his superb performance on the field and in the classroom. The defender garnered MVC All-Freshman Team honors, College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, and was named to the CSC Academic All-America ® Second Team, after being one of nine Academic All-Americans to earn a 4.0 GPA. Most recently on December 12, Shannon was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second Team. At the conclusion of the 2024 season, Hodgson was named to the All-MVC First Team and earned a spot on the United Soccer Coaches All-America Third Team for his efforts on the field.
In 21 appearances (15 starts), the graduate student had a record-setting season on the field in 2024. The graduate student registered a single-season program record with 17 assists to lead the NCAA and scored six goals. Along with Welsh and Hodgson, Smith earned United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors for his efforts on the pitch for The Brown and Gold.
Carson Hodgson — 26th In 21 matches (20 starts) the redshirt sophomore defender tallied three goals – all game-winners and added three assists on the season. During Shannon’s debut against #14 University of Vermont on Thursday, August 22, the defender started and scored his first career goal – the game-winner in WMU’s 3-1 victory. After his efforts against the #14 Catamounts and leading The Brown and Gold to a 1-0 road victory over #9 University of New Hampshire, Shannon was named TopDrawerSoccer’s Player of the Week on August 27. Less than one week later, Shannon tallied his first career assist in the men’s soccer team’s 5-1 win over Villanova on September 2. Two months later on November 6, Shannon tallied a career-high three points in WMU’s 2-1 victory over UIC after assisting on the opening goal and scoring the game-winner in the 80th minute. In his postseason NCAA Tournament debut on November 21 against SIUE, Shannon scored the game-winning goal in the 38th minute to send the men’s soccer team to the second round for a program record third consecutive year.Colin Welsh — 22nd On Tuesday, November 12, Smith earned All-MVC First Team honors. For additional recognition of his stellar play, Smith received his first career TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week honor on Tuesday, November 26, after leading the Broncos to a 5-1 win over SIUE in the NCAA Tournament First Round behind two assists and one goal on Thursday, November 21. Men’s Postseason Top 100During the campaign, Smith tallied five multi-assist games. Behind his dominance, Smith would conclude the regular season tallying at least one point in nine of The Brown and Gold’s last 11 contests. Smith’s single season was so impressive, that his 17 assists in 2024 rank ninth all-time in WMU’s career assists record book.
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