The Kalamazoo College men's soccer team had three student-athletes collect All-MIAA honors on Wednesday (Nov. 1). Paul Kearis, Aidan Gillig, and Henry Plumstead were selected to the All-MIAA Second Team for their efforts on the pitch.
Kalamazoo finished the 2023 regular season with a 7-9-2 (2-3-2 MIAA) record and was the fifth seed in the MIAA Tournament. The Hornets went 5-5-0 in non-conference play with wins over Principia, Olivet Nazarene, Cornerstone, UM-Dearborn, and Concordia before entering conference play. Kalamazoo collected three shutouts on the season, had conference wins over Alma and Adrian, and had MIAA ties with Olivet and Trine.
Coming back for his fifth year, Kearis made the transition from the midfield to the back line and started all 18 games for the Hornets. He helped the defense allow just 1.72 goals and 10 shots per game, helping out Gavin Houtkooper in the net. Kearis scored one goal on the season against North Central, taking four shots all season. In his five-year career, Kearis appeared in 78 games with 72 starts, with one goal and three assists for five points. This is the second time in his career that Kearis was named to the second team after receiving the honor last season.
Gillig started in 17 games for Kalamazoo this season, scoring five goals and collecting two assists for 12 points. The goals and points totals were third on the team, and then he led the team in shots with 43. Gillig's lone game-winner this season came against Olivet Nazarene, and then he also converted a penalty kick against Concordia. After returning for his fifth season, Gillig has appeared in 65 games with 32 starts as a Hornet, scoring 14 goals and collecting four assists for 32 career points. This is Gillig's second time being named to the second team after earning a spot in 2021.
In his second season at Kalamazoo, Plumstead exploded onto the scene and ended up leading the team in goals, assists, points, penalty kick goals, and game-winning goals. He finished with eight goals, three assists, 19 points, two penalty kick goals, and two game-winning goals after playing in all 18 games with 15 starts. His penalty kick goals came in back-to-back games against Olivet and Trine, and then his game-winning goals were against Alma and Adrian. Plumstead had one multi-goal effort in the win over Alma, with six of his eight goals on the season coming during MIAA play. He was voted the MIAA Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16, and this was his first time being selected to an All-MIAA team.