NAPERVILLE – The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) released its 2023 All-Conference Teams in men’s soccer on Friday morning. Regular-season champion North Central placed a league-best five student-athletes on the postseason CCIW honor roll.
 
Carthage’s Aidan Crowder was voted CCIW Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year. The senior forward from Wilmette, Ill. finished the eight-match conference schedule as the league-co leader in scoring with six goals and five assists. He opened the league schedule with goals in three consecutive contests, including a five-point effort in Carthage’s 4-0 win at Augustana on Sept. 30. Crowder is the Firebirds’ first postseason specialty award winner from the league since Austin Bitta was named Student-Athlete of the Year in 2016.
 
The CCIW Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year is Nacho Diaz of Millikin. The 6-foot-4 defender from Madrid, Spain was the CCIW’s top scoring defender during the league slate, scoring six goals in eight appearances. The junior’s 1.71 points per match ranked fifth among all CCIW players. Diaz joins Dylan Hottsmith, the 2014 First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year, as Millikin players to earn postseason honors from the league.
 
Mason Escalante, Wheaton’s junior goalkeeper, is the recipient of the CCIW’s inaugural Goalkeeper of the Year honor. The Santa Cruz, Calif. native made league-high 33 saves against league opponents also ranked second with a 1.41 goals-against average as one of only two keepers to log at least 700 minutes in conference foes. 
 
The lone freshman to collect All-CCIW accolades on Friday was North Central’s Tomasso Polidori, who was also voted CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year. A defender from Rome, Italy, Polidori tallied seven points in eight CCIW starting assignments, including a pair of first-half strikes Wednesday night at Augustana that allowed the Cardinals to clinch the outright CCIW title.
 
Second-year Wheaton head coach Steve McCrath was voted CCIW Joe Bean Coach of the Year by his peers. McCrath piloted the Thunder to a 6-1-1 mark and a second-place showing in the CCIW, Wheaton’s best conference record since 2015. WC outscored its opponents 21-11 during eight league bouts, and its average differential of +1.25 per match ranked second among CCIW teams. 
 
Carthage’s Mickey Reilly joins North Central’s Jacopo De Collibus and Aidan Westerberg as repeat All-CCIW First Team choices. Reilly is the only three-time All-CCIW First Team selection on the 2023 team.

CCIW Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year
Aidan Crowder, Carthage
 
CCIW Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year
Nacho Diaz, Millikin
 
CCIW Goalkeeper of the Year
Mason Escalante, Wheaton
 
CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year
Tommaso Polidori, North Central
 
CCIW Joe Bean Coach of the Year
Steve McCrath, Wheaton
 
All-CCIW First Team
Aidan Crowder, F, Carthage, Sr., Wilmette, Ill., New Trier
Mickey Reilly, M, Carthage, Sr., Libertyville, Ill., Libertyville
Maciej Rzadkosz, D, Elmhurst, Sr., Palos Hills, Ill., Stagg
Nacho Diaz, D, Millikin, Jr., Madrid, Spain, Alameda (AD Torrejon)
Jacopo De Collibus, M, North Central, So., Novara, Italy
Jack Fairwood, M, North Central, Sr., Carpentersville, Ill., Hampshire
Aidan Westerberg, F, North Central, Sr., Belvidere, Ill., Belvidere North
William de Carro, M, North Park, Jr., Västerås, Sweden, Widénska
Hugo Neborg, D, North Park, So., D, Halmstad, Sweden, Sannarpsgymnasiet
Pryse Anderson, F, Wheaton, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas, R.L. Paschal
Mason Escalante, GK, Wheaton, Jr., Santa Cruz, Calif., Monte Vista Christian
Kyle Johnson, F, Wheaton, So., Champaign, Ill., Champaign Central
 
All-CCIW Second Team
Josh Gonzaga, F, Carroll, Sr., Lombard, Ill., Montini Catholic
Marti Solenalles Viella, M, Carroll, So., Barcelona, Spain, CIC Batxillerats
Nick Renfro, M, Carthage, Sr., Naperville, Benet Academy
Luis Aviles, F, Elmhurst, Jr., Wheeling, Ill., Wheeling
Ilija Jerinic, M, Elmhurst, Sr., Morton Grove, Ill., Niles West
Jonathan Mueller, F, Elmhurst, Sr., Schaumburg, Ill., Schaumburg
Sam Kedzior, GK, Illinois Wesleyan, So., Cary, Ill., Cary Grove
Brody Seaton, M, Illinois Wesleyan, Sr., Dunlap, Ill., Peoria Notre Dame
Edoardo Bonifacio, D, North Central, So., D, Rome, Italy
Tommaso Polidori, D, North Central, Fr., D, Rome, Italy
Michal Dejworek, F, North Park, So., Crystal Lake, Ill., Crystal Lake South
Christian Vaaland, D, North Park, Jr., Rennesøy, Norway, WANG Toppidrett Stavanger
 
CCIW RESPECT Award Recipients
Patrick Mayer, Augustana, Jr., Lake Villa, Ill., Lakes
David Serra Dizy, Carroll, Fr., Llavaneres, Garbi Pere Verges
Joe Balas, Carthage, Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill., Bolingbrook
Edmund Conroy, Elmhurst, Sr., Arlington Heights, Ill, Prospect
Sasha Tylnyy, Illinois Wesleyan, Sr., Wheeling, Ill., Buffalo Grove
Derek Austin, Millikin, Jr., Mount Zion, Ill., Mount Zion
Davis Nelson, North Central, Jr., Madison, Wis., Madison East
Eduardo Cirilo, North Park, Fr., Island Lake, Ill., Wauconda
Caleb Ryan, Wheaton, So., Littleton, Colo., Valor Christian