Thursday, December 7, 2023
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  After anchoring Simon Fraser’s defense to the team’s first Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship since 2018, Niko Papakyriakopoulos can officially say that he’s not only one of the best in the west, but also one of the best in all of Division II men’s soccer.

The senior defender from New Westminster, B.C., is the GNAC’s lone representative on the Division II Conference Commissioners Association Men’s Soccer All-America Team, earning selection on the second team after leading Simon Fraser to an 11-5-2 overall record (8-2-1 GNAC). The honor marks the first time in Papakyriakopoulos’ career that he has been named an All-American and he is the first GNAC player to earn D2CCA All-American honors since 2021.

The recognition comes after a season where Papakyriakopoulos was unanimously voted by conference coaches as the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year after starting all 18 matches of the season and logging over 1,400 minutes on the back line. Along with his All-American status, he was also named to the first team all-GNAC, and the D2CCA first team all-west region.

With Papakyriakopoulos patrolling the field, Simon Fraser posted a 1.00 goals against average, tying for the conference lead in a season that featured plenty of matchups against high-powered offense. Along with his defensive excellence, Papakyriakopoulos was a valuable member of the SFU attacking strategy, providing eight assists and one goal on the year.

He notched his first point of the season against Western Oregon on Sept. 28, assisting on the opening tally of the 2-2 draw in Monmouth. Papakyriakopoulos followed that up with his biggest offensive performance of the season later that week, racking up a career-high three assists in the Red Leafs’ 5-0 win over Saint Martin’s on Sept. 30. He scored his lone goal of the season in the first round of the NCAA championships on Nov. 16 against Point Loma to level the match a 1-1 going into halftime and give the Red Leafs a fighting chance down the stretch.

Papakyriakopoulos is the 14th player from Simon Fraser to earn D2CCA All-American honors and is the first since Connor Glennon (2017-19,21), Michael North (2015-18) and Matteo Polisi (2016-19) were named to the first team after the Red Leafs won the GNAC championship in 2018.