Five Zips Garner United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-Region Honors

2024 UNITED SOCCER COACHES ALL-REGION SELECTION RELEASE (PDF)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - University of Akron men's soccer redshirt seniors Dyson Clapier (Layton, Utah), Emil Jaaskelainen (Bolton, England) and Beto Ydrach (Orlando, Fla.), senior Malik Henry (Hamilton, Ontario) and redshirt junior Mitch Budler (Lincoln, Neb.) added to their impressive Zips' resumes on Tuesday, Dec. 10, as the United Soccer Coaches tabbed the Akron quintet 2024 All-East Regional honorees.

Each Zips garnered first-team regional accolades and is now eligible to receive All-America honors when the United Soccer Coaches unveils its 2024 class on Friday, Dec. 13

Clapier earned First-Team All-Region laurels for the second time after collecting Third-Team All-America accolades in 2022.

A 2024 First-Team All-BIG EAST selection, Clapier started all 21 games for Akron this season en route to registering five goals and eight assists on the strength of 52 shots and 23 shots on goals, while adding one game-winning tally. He ranks 36th in the NCAA on the campaign in total assists, while rating second in the BIG EAST Conference in shots (52) and shots on goal (23), fifth in total assists (8), shots (2.48) and shots on goal (1.10) per game and ninth in assists per outing (.381)

Jaaskelainen pulled in All-Region honors for the fourth time in his decorated career, including first-team recognition for the second time.

The unanimous choice as BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-BIG EAST selection, Jaaskelainen started all 21 games for Akron in 2024 en route to recording an NCAA-best 23 goals and 54 points, while also leading the nation in game-winning goals (6), goals per game (1.10) and points per tilt (2.57). He also ranks fourth in the nation in shots (4.38) and shot on goal (2.14) per match and 34th in total assists (8), while finishing the campaign posting the second-highest single-season goal total in program history.

Henry captured All-Region accolades for the second consecutive season after being selected as a third-team honoree in 2023, while Budler was honored for the second time after being tabbed a third-team recipient in 2022. Ydrach garnered All-Regional honors for the first time this season.

A Second-Team All-BIG EAST honoree in 2024, Henry started all 21 games for Akron this season en route to scoring two goals and collecting a team-best nine assists on the strength of 17 shots, including nine on goal, while adding the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win at Georgetown. He ranks 17th in the NCAA in total assists (9) and 43rd in assists per game (0.43), while leading the BIG EAST Conference in assists (9) and rating fourth in assists per contest (.429).

The BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year, Budler started all 21 games for the Zips the season en route to posting 51 saves on the strength of a 0.93 goals against average and a league-high nine shutouts. He ranks fourth in the NCAA in shutouts (9) this season, while also rating 12th in goalkeeper minutes played (1,846:14) and 27th in goals against average (.926). Budler led the BIG EAST in shutouts (9), while ranking fourth in goals against average (.926), sixth in save percentage (.729) and 10th in saves per game (2.43).

Ydrach, the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, started 19 of the 20 games he appeared in for Akron this season and helped anchor a Zips' defensive unit that recorded a league-best nine shutouts and limited its opponents to 1.0 goals per game and 9.0 shots per contest and a 0.926 goals against average. Offensively, Ydrach contributed three assists on the strength of 13 shots, including three on goal.

The University of Akron Athletics

Five Zips Garner United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-Region Honors

Players Mentioned

Mitch Budler

Dyson Clapier

Malik Henry

Emil Jaaskelainen

Beto Ydrach

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