The York College Fall 2024 athletic teams collectively created a highly successful campaign, resulting in new team milestones and an abundance of awards and accolades.
Winning became synonymous with York College of Pennsylvania sports throughout the Fall 2024 season as the Spartans won 60 percent of their total contests and compiled an impressive .750 win percentage against conference foes.
The field hockey team, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball all qualified for their respective MAC Commonwealth postseason tournaments. This marked the second time all four programs made it to the conference postseason since 2021 when York joined the league. Of those four teams, field hockey, men's soccer, and women's soccer went on to reach their respective conference title games, which is the second time in history (2003) that three York teams advanced to a conference final in the fall.
The field hockey team went on to claim the first conference title in program history by defeating 12th-ranked Messiah, 1-0, in overtime. The Spartans' season culminated in a third-consecutive appearance in the NCAA postseason with an impressive 17-6 record, which set a new program benchmark for wins. York also spent 10 weeks ranked in the top 10 of the national Coaches Poll.
The men's soccer program also had a standout season, guided by first-year head coach Nate Gibboney. The Green and White made their first conference title game appearance in over a decade and compiled the most wins (14) in a single season since winning 19 in 2013. The Spartans added further reverence to their 2024 campaign, as their 14-game unbeaten streak and unblemished 8-0-3 home record were also firsts in over a decade.
All of the team success the York athletic programs achieved throughout the Fall season would not be possible without outstanding performances by our Spartan student-athletes. The total number of accolades is staggering and one of the most impressive collections of awards in recent history by a group of Spartan fall student-athletes.
Here is a breakdown of awards by Fall 2024 Spartan student-athletes:
- 1 Regional Player of the Year
- 2 All-Americans
- 2 Conference "Of The Year" Awards
- 7 Academic All-MAC Selections
- 11 All-Region Performers
- 23 All-Conference Performers
From the list of awards noted above, the Academic All-MAC Award is the quintessential honor bestowed upon a student-athlete at a Middle Atlantic Conference institution for outstanding athletic and academic achievement. The MAC sports information directors nominate and vote for the Academic All-MAC teams, giving equal weight to academic excellence and athletic prowess. A student-athlete must have a Fall Semester grade-point average (GPA) of 3.20 or higher to be eligible for the award.
Three members of the field hockey program garnered Academic All-MAC honors in seniors Riley Buschert, Belle Fields, and Libby Wild. The trio each earned first-team all-conference honors and first-team all-region honors to go along with Fields earning Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Year and Region Player of the Year honors. Fields and Buschert also added first-team All-American honors to their mantles, cementing them as two of the top performers in the country this past season. Academically, Wild leads the way with a 3.97 cumulative GPA as an Integrated Marketing major, while Buschert owns a 3.73 GPA as a Hospitality major, and Fields is a Civil Engineering major with a 3.53 GPA.
Seniors Morgan Joyce and Alyssa Russell earned spots on the women's soccer Academic All-MAC team. Joyce and Russell led the Spartans to a 12-4-5 record and a fourth-consecutive appearance in the Commonwealth title match. The duo both earned first-team, all-conference nods, and all-region selections. Joyce was also named Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Year. Joyce and Russell matched their on-field production in the classroom by posting 4.0 grade point averages in the Fall Semester. Joyce, a Psychology major, owns a 3.61 cumulative GPA and Russell boasts a 3.97 GPA as a Business Analytics major.
Senior Matt Zeiders represented the men's soccer program on the Academic All-MAC list after posting a 4.0 GPA in the fall. Zeiders owns a stellar 3.95 cumulative grade point average and is a six-time member of the Dean's list as a Civil Engineering major. The senior captain earned first-team all-conference honors and second-team all-region accolades for his performance on the field this past season, during which he racked up a career-best nine points on two goals and five assists.
Senior Tyler Hunt earned his way onto the Academic All-MAC squad with a 3.55 Fall Semester GPA in Civil Engineering. He led the way for the Spartan Cross Country programs this season as the only runner to earn both all-conference and all-region status. Hunt finished 12th at the MAC Championships to clinch second-team all-conference honors and then capped off his career with a personal-best time of 25:26.4 to finish 29th and become the first Spartan male runner to secure All-Region honors since 2019.
The Spartans aim to build on the success of the fall teams with the winter sports championships and the start of the spring sports seasons just around the corner. Visit ycpspartans.com to stay informed on all the latest news, scores, and updates related to York College athletics.
