Five Named All-OAC Men's Soccer; T.J. Welch Named OAC Midfielder of the Year

(AUSTINTOWN, OH)–-Mount Union sophomore T.J. Welch (Columbia Station/Columbia) was named Ohio Athletic Conference Midfielder of the Year and was one of five Purple Raiders on the All-OAC teams selected by the conference's 10 head coaches.

Welch is the third Mount Union player to win Midfielder of the Year honors and ranked among the top-10 in the conference in points (18) and goals (8) and he along with freshman forward Joey Merlo (Niles/Cardinal Mooney) were named to the All-OAC First Team.

Merlo also had five goals on the season and finished third on the team in total points with 12.  

Senior defenseman Chris Bondra (Mentor/NDCL) was named to the All-OAC Second Team as he started 18 games this season and was second on the team in assists with three. 

Freshman goal keeper Jon Critell (Youngstown/Cardinal Mooney) and sophomore forward Kevin Cindric (Willowick/Eastlake North) were All-OAC Honorable Mention selections.

Critell played in all but 45 minutes in goal this season and recorded five shutouts with a 1.26 goals against average, while Cindric was tied for the team lead in goals (8) and second in points (17).

Mount Union went 8-10-1 in 2009 which was the highest win total for the Raiders in six years.