ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Across the country, STLFC Academy alumni have been making an impact for their college teams during their freshman season as Saint Louis FC checks in with their progress before the start of the NCAA Tournament.

Indiana University is currently ranked #2 in the nation and there are two familiar Saint Louis FC defenders in the team in Jack Maher and Daniel Munie. Freshman Jack Maher from Caseyville, Illinois has started in all 20 games for the Hoosiers and recently helped them clinch another Big 10 Championship on Sunday against the University of Michigan while anchoring a defense that only allowed 11 goals all season. For his achievements, Jack was awarded the Big 10 Freshman of the Year and named on the Big 10 All-Freshman team. Daniel Munie from Maryland Heights, Missouri has not played for IU this season but is expected to make an impact throughout his undergraduate career. IU is seeded #2 in the NCAA Tournament and plays the winner of UConn and Rhode Island in the Second Round on November 18th.

Aedan Stanley from Columbia, Illinois is another former Saint Louis FC first-team defender that led his Duke University team in minutes with 1,651 while starting all 18 games this season. Duke went 10-6-2 while only allowing 23 goals this season and got knocked out of the ACC Tournament by #4 ranked University of North Carolina. Duke is seeded #6 in the NCAA Tournament and will face the winner of Pacific and UC Riverside in the Second Round on November 18th.

Former STLFC first-team goalkeeper Seth Stiebel from O’Fallon, Missouri is another freshman who made an immediate impact at St. Louis University with 11 games played and 14 goals conceded. He notably started against SIUE in the revitalization of the “Bronze Boot” game where he saved a penalty kick towards the end of the game to keep the score at 1-1 and earn the draw for the Billikens. The SLU Men’s Soccer season would end with a loss against George Mason in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament but Seth believes mental toughness will be the difference to bounce back next year.

“My development from the Academy to the college game was relatively easy,” said Stiebel. “I think the Academy prepared me for the high intensity of the college season and the short turn-around after games. One of the big things in the Academy was being mentally strong and with college soccer that is a big characteristic. My first college season didn’t end like I wanted it to but if the Academy taught me one thing is that you never give up and you keep chasing the goal.”

Andrew Schulz from O’Fallon, Missouri is another freshman who played in all 20 games for Maryville University this season which ended in a NCAA Division II Tournament first-round loss to Ohio Valley. Maryville University Head Coach David Korn believes Andrew’s on-and-off the field development in the STLFC Academy program helped him make such an immediate impact.

“Andrew Schulz player a crucial role at center back for our team this year in helping to lead the program to our first ever GLVC Conference Tournament and second straight NCAA Tournament,” said Korn. “Andrew’s ability to read the game defensively, match-up with attacking players around the box and his confidence on the ball helped him to step in as a freshman and make a big impact. We have continued to look for players from the STLFC Academy as we’ve seen their background and upbringing makes them great fits for both our team and university.”

Freshman Chris Bruch from Peoria, Illinois is a forward currently playing at the University of Wisconsin. He played in eight games this season with 224 minutes on the field as part of a talented pool of freshman forwards. Chris was mostly used in a substitute role but Wisconsin Head Coach John Trask believes each forward could compete for the starting spot in the coming years. “We knew this was a talented group we were bringing in,” said Trask. "We had a feeling that this group would be very tight and would be competing for the starting spots.” The University of Wisconsin season would end in a Big 10 Conference Tournament semi-final loss to eventual runner-ups Michigan.

Two STLFC Academy alumni who have not seen the field this season but are excited about their continued development are Jacob Bernson at Xavier University and Blake Little at SIUE, both of whom redshirted for their freshman seasons. Jacob is from O’Fallon, Missouri and credits the STLFC Academy for his foundation of play. “My time in the Academy program created a great foundation for success in college,” said Bernson. “The numerous similarities between STLFC and Xavier eased the initial transition. Overall, college soccer is demanding as the physicality and speed of play is elevated; however, I can look back at the last five years and know that the Academy was critical in my development.”