INDIANAPOLIS – The University of Indianapolis men's soccer team has collected nine GLVC postseason honors for the 2022 season, officials from the conference office announced on Thursday. Most notably, Kabiru Gafar earned the conference Freshman of the Year accolade while his teammate Pierre Lurot was named as the GLVC Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Gafar is tabbed as the top freshman in the conference after his strong performance so far this year on the pitch. The Indianapolis native and Ben Davis High School product has played in all 16 matches this season and produced three goals and two assists in 879 minutes played. Gafar had his best game this year so far back on Oct. 2 when he tallied both a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win against Truman.
 
This award for Gafar means he's now just the fourth Greyhound in program history to win the Freshman of the Year honor. The last UIndy student-athlete to accomplish this was Alejandro Steinwascher back in 2018.
 
Lurot, who is in his first season with the Greyhounds after transferring from GLVC-foe Southwest Baptist, has guided UIndy on the backline this season by having played and started in all 16 matches so far. Under his direction, the Hounds have allowed just 15 goals while successfully outscoring opponents by 22 goals in the process. The Bourges, France native has helped orchestrate five shutout victories so far in 2022.
 
With Lurot earning this honor, UIndy has now crowned the conference defender of the year for a third-straight season. Prior to this year, Makel Rasheed claimed the honor during the 2020-21 and 2021 seasons.
 
Along with Lurot on the first team list, Caleb Mundell and Michael Tselios also make an appearance for UIndy. Ibo Yilmaz and Seth Ward were second team honorees while Gafar and Mason Stearn found a spot on the third team.
 
The league also recognized 13 GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees and one team award winner. Owen Atkison was selected from UIndy. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school's two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.