As regular season play comes to a close, the Horizon League announced its 2022 Horizon League Men’s Soccer All-League awards. A trio of Colonials in Kelvin Ramirez, Bryan Akongo and Victor Koah were awarded with post-season accolades.

Kelvin Ramirez, a junior defender from Toronto, Canada, as well as Bryan Akongo, a sophomore midfielder from London, England, earned spots on the All-League Second Team.

Ramirez started in 14 games on defense this season and chalked up two goals, his first against Milwaukee, which ended up being the game-winning goal. On the defensive end, he was a key asset in leading the Colonials’ backline to rank second in the conference in fewest goals allowed this season.

Akongo has also made an impact, tallying one goal and two assists to earn himself three points. His first goal tied up a match in September 1-1 at Oakland. He also tallied a total of 14 shots, the third-highest on the team.

Koah earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team, making him the second Colonial in two seasons to get the honor, joining teammate Noé Bijou. As a freshman he has made an appearance in all of the Colonials’ matches, starting in seven of them. Koah ranks third on the team with six points after registering two goals and two assists. He tallied his first career assist in a 2-1 win over Northern Kentucky before his first NCAA goal in a 2-1 victory at VMI, which was the game-winning goal.

Three honorees coming from RMU are the most the Colonials have seen since 2018, but it seems they were missing a key member of their squad in the Horizon League accolades: Chase Gilley.

Gilley is no stranger to receiving honors for his on-the-pitch impact, having earned Horizon League Player of the Week in two consecutive weeks this season, as well as being named to College Soccer Now’s Men’s National Team of the Week in late September after recording a hattrick in the team’s 5-0 win over Milwaukee.

Overall, Gilley leads the team in offensive stats. The junior from North Carolina tallied 14 points, with six goals and two assists, as well as 26 shots. In Horizon League rankings, Gilley ranks sixth overall in goals this season, along with second overall in game-winning goals, and seventh overall with points. The only other Colonial on any of the leaderboards is freshman Shane McMillan, ranking ninth in game-winning goals. For his first season with the Colonials, Gilley has proven himself a key asset to the team.

There were numerous players who received honors ahead of Gilley, despite him having some better numbers. One of these players was Samory Powder, a junior forward for Detroit Mercy. The Titans rank a spot beneath the Colonials in overall standings. While Powder may have Gilley beat in terms of shots and assists, Gilley has higher marks in goals (six to Powder’s five) and in game-winning goals. Powder was named to the All-League second team.

Not to say Powder and these players do not deserve these honors, but it seems unusual given Gilley’s performance for the Colonials and where he ranks in the league overall that he would not be given a spot for either All-League team.

Thanks to some of these Horizon League honorees, the Colonials were able to secure a position in the Horizon League playoffs. They will travel to Michigan to face the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in a quarterfinal matchup Sunday at 1:00 p.m.