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Rio Grande placed four players on the 2022 NAIA Men's Soccer All-American team. Vilius Labutis (top left) was a First Team pick, Gabriel Silva (top right) and Charlie Chechlacz (bottom left) were Second Team selections and Rodrigo Basso (bottom right) was an honorable mention pick.
Rio Grande placed four players on the 2022 NAIA Men's Soccer All-American team. Vilius Labutis (top left) was a First Team pick, Gabriel Silva (top right) and Charlie Chechlacz (bottom left) were Second Team selections and Rodrigo Basso (bottom right) was an honorable mention pick.
Posted: Dec 07, 2022

Rio Grande places four on All-American team

Rio Grande/NAIA Sports Information
     KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Four players representing the University of Rio Grande have been named to the 2022 NAIA Men's Soccer All-America teams.
     The squads, selected by the NAIA All-America committee consisting of the NAIA-Men's Soccer Coaches Association Executive Committee, the National Championship Games Committee and four men's soccer coaches, were announced Wednesday afternoon by the national office following the completion of Monday's national championship in Decatur, Alabama.
     A first, second and third team - as well as an honorable mention list - was named.
     Each of the All-America teams is comprised of a goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders, three forwards, and one at-large position.
     Leading the list of honorees from the RedStorm was junior midfielder Vilius Labutis (Ireland), who was named to the First Team.
     Senior midfielder Charlie Chechlacz (Liecestershire, England) and sophomore forward Gabriel Silva (Sao Luis, Brazil) were both Second Team selections, while junior defender Rodrigo Basso (Santiago, Chile) was an honorable mention pick.
     Labutis, who was previously named the River States Conference Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, ranked second on the team with 18 goals and 43 goals. His seven assists were fifth on the club.
     Silva led Rio in both goals (21) and points (52), while finishing in a tie for third with 10 assists. Chechlacz had six goals, tied for the team lead in assists with 11 and closed the season with 23 points.
     Basso, who helped anchor the Rio defensive effort, had one goal and an one assist.
     The RedStorm finished 18-4-2 after falling to eventual national champion Bethel (Ind.) University in the semifinal round of the national tournament.
     Bethel's Tim Noeding was selected as the 2022 NAIA Men's Soccer Player of the Year.
     This season, the sophomore midfielder from Bad Hersfeld, Germany scored four goals and added 12 assists for a total of 20 points. Nationally, he was eighth in assists and netted three game winning goals.
     Dalton State (Ga.) placed the most student-athletes on the First through Third Teams (5), followed by Mid-America Christian (Okla.) with four and NAIA National Champions Bethel (Ind.) with three, including the Player of the Year. The Pilots and Roadrunners each had two players on the First Team, the most of any institutions nationally.
     Senior forward Rodrigo Alburquerque from Mid-America Christian (Okla.) and junior midfielder Juan Ruiz Cabello are the lone repeat winners from the 2021 All-American list.
     The 2022 Select Sport America-NAIA Men's Soccer National Coach of the Year will be announced later this spring at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia, Pa.