A total of five Maverick men's soccer players earned a mention as the RMAC announced their individual award winners and All-Conference teams on Thursday, highlighted by Diego Chavez being named the RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year.

Chavez was also selected as an RMAC First Team All-Conference player alongside redshirt senior defender Raymond Jackson. It is the first all-conference recognition of any kind for Chavez and the first first-team nod for Jackson, who was named honorable mention All-RMAC a season ago.

Sophomore forward Manuel Ponce Casas was named to the Second Team while forwards Alec Fronapfel and Fernando Morales received honorable mention.

Chavez takes home the Goalkeeper of the Year award as he leads the RMAC with 80 total saves and an .800 save percentage. The Longmont, Colorado native leads all of Division II by playing 1,620 minutes so far this season, every possible minute of CMU's 18 matches.

Chavez finished the regular season with a 1.11 goals-against average and six shutouts, which ranks second in the RMAC. Highlights from Chavez's season include 13 saves in a scoreless tie with Simon Fraser, eight saves in a 1-0 win over MSU Denver, and a four-save clean sheet against CSU Pueblo, the defending NCAA national runners-up.

The RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year award returns to Colorado Mesa after a brief hiatus last season when CCU's Max Collingwood won it. Prior to last season, Maverick keepers won the award four straight times from 2018-2021. Chavez becomes the fifth individual winner of the award in CMU history, joining Micah Conrads (2013), Briley Guarneri (2018), Brendan Brown (2019 and 2020) and Connor Durant (2021).

Raymond Jackson joins Chavez on the All-Conference First Team. Jackson, a redshirt senior defender from Denver, provided an invaluable blend of offense, defense and leadership from his right back position. Jackson has recorded two assists and ranks third on the team with 1,282 minutes played. He played the full 90 minutes in 10 games, including the first six of the season.

Chavez and Jackson are the only two Mavericks this season to start every match for CMU. Both players also served as captains for the Mavericks this season.

Manuel Ponce Casas also received the first all-conference nod of his career with his second team pick. The sophomore leads the team with 22 points, good for third in the RMAC. Ponce Casas ranks tied for fourth in the RMAC with his eight goals and tied for fifth in the conference with six assists. Five of Ponce Casas's goals were game winners, meaning the sophomore has netted the go-ahead goal in half of CMU's 10 wins so far in 2023.

Fernando Morales receives the second All-RMAC honorable mention honor of his career, previously earning honorable mention status in 2021. Morales has eight goals so far in 2023, tied for the team lead and tied for fourth in the RMAC with teammate Ponce Casas and UCCS's Alex Andersson. Morales has gone 2-for-2 from the penalty spot and scored five goals in a four-match span from September 9-29.

Alec Fronapfel returns to earning All-RMAC honors, nabbing an honorable mention selection to go with his two first-team picks in 2020 and 2021. Fronapfel has six goals and three assists, including a pair of two-goal games against Montana State Billings and Colorado Christian. Fronapfel is tied for 10^th in the RMAC with 16 shots on goal.

With their two selections, Colorado Mesa is one of three schools with multiple players on the 13-player first team, joining CSU Pueblo (four) and regular season champs Fort Lewis (three).  

Fort Lewis's Anton Hjalmarsson was named both the RMAC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Fort Lewis head coach David Oberholtzer was named the RMAC Coach of the Year after leading the Skyhawks to a regular season championship. CSU Pueblo's Shjon Andrews won the Defensive Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season.

The Mavericks are the No. 2 seed in the RMAC Tournament. They will host an RMAC semifinal in Grand Junction this Sunday at noon, playing the winner of third-seeded CSU Pueblo and sixth-seeded MSU Denver.