Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Ohio Northern University

Will Shaffer named to CSC Academic First Team All-America in Men's Soccer for second consecutive year

Will Shaffer named to CSC Academic First Team All-America in Men's Soccer for second consecutive year
December 10, 2024

By Marissa Myers

| 2024 CSC Men's Soccer Academic All-America Teams (.pdf) |

ADA — Ohio Northern fifth-year senior midfielder Will Shaffer (Galena/St. Francis DeSales) was named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Academic All-America First Team, the organization announced on Tuesday.

Shaffer is now a two-time First Team Academic All-American and was among 12 First Team selections and 34 total student-athletes named to one of the three teams in Division III this season. The complete Division III team had an average GPA of 3.92.

He joined Matt Ellis ('01), Cory Thigpen ('05), Nate Bascom ('12) and Ryan Sommerfeld last year to give the Polar Bears five CSC Academic All-America First Team selections in program history. The ONU men's soccer team now has 14 total CSC Academic All-Americans dating back to 2000.

Shaffer was among six Polar Bears who received CSC Academic All-District recognition earlier this year. He was also named Ohio Athletic Conference Midfielder of the Year and was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region VII First Team.

Shaffer started all 22 games this season and ranked second on the team in points (20) and assists (6) and was third on the team in goals with seven. The finance major and three-time All-OAC honoree ranked tied for fifth in the OAC in assists, eighth in points and tied for tenth in goals.

Shaffer has started all 65 of his matches at ONU and has 57 points on 20 goals and 17 assists. He was one of 32 of this year's Academic All-Americans among all divisions to boast a perfect 4.0 GPA.

The four Academic All-America teams — Division I, II, III and NAIA — feature 126 student-athletes.

Under sixth-year head coach Chris Matejka, the Polar Bears finished the 2024 season with a 14-4-4 overall record and were second in the OAC with a 7-1-1 mark in conference play. They made it to the Second Round in their 11th NCAA Division III Tournament appearance and third in the last three seasons en route to being ranked No. 22 nationally in the final United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll.