Per Richard Skinner--Enquirer NewCath grad Juniet named All-American | The Skinny

 

From Thomas More College:

 

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) – Thomas More College sophomore forward Austin Juniet (Fort Thomas, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) has been named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Continental Tire All-American Team.

 

Juniet, who played in all 20 matches for the Saints, was a second team selection. He was second on the team in scoring with 18 points on seven goals and four assists. Juniet took 20 shots-on-goal for a .625 shot-on-goal percentage and had two game-winning goals. At the conclusion of the season, he has been named first team All-PAC and first team All-Great Lakes Region.

 

Juniet is the second-ever Thomas More men’s soccer student-athlete to be named All-American as Alex Oeswein ’12 was named to the NSCAA All-American Team in 2011.

 

The Saints finished the 2013 season with a 15-3-2 overall record as it won their fifth-straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament and advanced to their fifth-straight NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

Congrats Austin, great soccer player, even better kid. :thumb: Had the pleasure of his help volunteering quite a few NewCath fundraising events.

Per James Weber.... http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20131231/SPT0302/312310080/

 

When Austin Juniet downshifted gears in his college soccer career, moving from NCAA Division I Northern Kentucky University to NCAA Division III Thomas More College, he wanted his new teammates to keep cruising down the road at the same speed as his former ones.

 

That they did, and Juniet’s leadership helped the Saints play in a high gear as they reached the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season. TMC went 15-3-2, winning the Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship and reaching the NCAA Tournament, where the Saints lost 2-1 to Wheaton in the first round. After a 3-2 start to the year record-wise, TMC went on a 14-match unbeaten streak (12-0-2) before being eliminated.

 

“(The key was) how everyone stepped up as a whole towards the end of the year,” Juniet said. “We had a rough start to the year but as the year went on everything star\rted to click. There wasn’t one leader, but all the underclassmen all worked together.”

 

Juniet was the leading scorer for the season with seven goals and four assists. He won several honors, most notably second team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. It was his first season in Crestview Hills after coming over from Highland Heights following NKU’s first season in Division I.

 

“I knew coming in I had to prove myself,” he said. “No matter where you go, nothing is handed to you. I fought for every minute I played. To be named an All-American was a surprise. Just being named first team all-region was a big surprise and I didn’t expect any of those because I didn’t feel like I had my best season. It gives me more motivation for next year.”

 

Juniet had one of the best careers of any player at Newport Central Catholic. He graduated with the school record for career points (175), goals (74), single-season assists (22) and single-season goals (29). He was first team all-state his junior and senior seasons and third team all-region as a freshman, and was NCC’s offensive player of the year his final three seasons. Juniet led the Thoroughbreds to district and regional championships during his senior season of 2011.

 

After his freshman season at NKU, he came to Thomas More, where he majors in accounting. He brought to the Saints the experience of seeing Division I competition in the 2012 season. Juniet used those games as motivation for his new teammates. “Moving from NKU to TMC was a big jump,” he said. “I wanted to act like Thomas More was a big Division I school. I was demanding the most from my teammates. No matter how small we are, we’re going to play like a Division I school and we had to play the same speed.”

 

Juniet, an athletic playmaker at NewCath, has enjoyed the speed of the college game, which is enhanced by the artificial turf fields that he plays on most of the time now. Thomas More and NKU both have turf fields on their soccer pitches, and NewCath’s home field in Silver Grove didn’t.

 

Juniet also enjoys the opportunity to play with a few teammates he went against in high school. Thomas More has several Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky alumni, and former rivals of Juniet’s. “I played against Alex Dean from Highlands,” Juniet said. “He’s a great defender and I never could get by him. And I still can’t get by him when we scrimmage in practice. He is definitely one of the best defenders in the region, if not the country.”

 

Until next fall, Juniet will try to get faster and stronger while studying and coaching club soccer teams. He expects to step up his leadership role as a junior in 2014.

 

“Each year I will try to have a bigger role,” he said. “I expect success in everything I do.”