IRVING, TEXAS – Five members of The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team were named to All-Conference USA teams on Wednesday following a successful regular-season campaign. Redshirt senior Chris Wehan and senior Niko Hansen were named to the first team while redshirt-freshman Tom Smart earned second team honors and redshirt-senior Chris Gurule was tabbed to the third team.
In addition, two Lobos were named to the All-Freshman Team including Smart and Matthew Constant. The awards were voted upon by the league’s head coaches.
OFFICIAL CONFERENCE USA RELEASE
A three-time All-Conference USA First Team honoree and C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2013, Wehan has started all 17 games for the Lobos and has registered 14 points on six goals and two assists this season. He has tallied an outstanding 65 points on 29 goals and seven assists in his career to rank the 2016 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List honoree tied for seventh in Lobo history.
Hansen’s earns his spot on the first team for the first time in his career after claiming second-team honors last season. He has steadily moved up the ranks throughout his career, earning a position on the Conference USA All-Freshman Team in 2013 followed by third-team honors as a sophomore. In his final campaign as a Lobo, Hansen leads the conference in five categories including goals scored (10), goals per game (.625), points (tied 21), points per game (tied 1.31) and game-winning goals (5, .313 average). His game-winning goal total is also good for ninth in the nation.
Hansen was also named College Soccer News National Player of the Week earlier this season and has tallied 62 points on 25 goals and 12 assists while notching 11 gamewinners in his career.
Smart earns his spots on the All-Conference USA Second Team and the All-Conference USA Freshman Team in his first season on the field as a Lobo with his stellar season on the UNM back line. He started all 17 games for the Lobos and saw over 1,500 minutes on the pitch, serving as an integral member of a UNM back line that allowed just 14 goals in 17 games and posted seven shutouts.
Gurule earns his second consecutive All-Conference USA honor this season, nabbing a spot on the third team as a defender following his second-team honor last season. Gurule has started every game in which he has played for the past two seasons and has accumulated over 5,000 minutes in his career. In addition to helping anchor the stellar UNM defensive effort this season he has also registered three assists in 2016.
The final Lobo to receive 2016 All-Conference USA honors was another key contributor to the outstanding Lobo defense. Constant, a true freshman, missed two games this season as he was competing with the Canada U20 team. He started in all 15 games in which he played this season and tallied nearly 1,400 minutes on the field. The defender heavily contributed to the Lobo back line that allowed just 14 goals and posted seven shutouts.
The Lobos will face No. 19 Kentucky in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 9 in Huntington, W. Va. at 12 p.m. (MT).