Kafer Earns First Team NSCAA Scholar All-America; Three Others Honored on Second Team

Kansas City, Kan.: Senior Nathan Kafer was honored on the First Team National Soccer Coaches Association of America Scholar College Division All-America team, while teammates senior Gary Cole and juniors Ben Buhler and Kyle Emge were each named to the second team. The four Rangers honored were the most student-athletes recognized from one team in the whole country.  The College Division consists of all schools not competing at the NCAA Division I level.

Kafer led the record-setting Ranger offense with 16 goals scored and was third with five assists.  Kafer has also earned NSCAA All-America Second Team, Daktronics All-America Honorable Mention, ESPN Academic Second Team All-District VII, and First Team Academic All-RMAC  honors.  Kafer maintains a 3.67 grade point average in business management and finished third in the RMAC in goals scored and third with four game-winning goals.  Kafer broke the career goal scoring record at Regis on his last goal of his career, ending with 45 goals, 25 assists and 115 points, with the latter two ranking second all-time at Regis.  A three-time NSCAA First Team All-Region honoree, Kafer's 16 goals this season are second most in a season in program history.

"This is a huge honor for these four outstanding student-athletes," states head coach Tony McCall.  "These four leaders have been great role models for the rest of the team and have helped put the program where it is today."

Cole, from Englewood, Colo., helped the Ranger defense allow just 25 goals in 21 games and was also named to the Daktronics All-America Second Team and NSCAA All-America Third Team, while earning RMAC Defensive Player of the Year.  Cole, who has a 3.51 GPA in Spanish, was also tabbed as a First Team Academic All-RMAC selection as well as a Second Team ESPN All-District VII selection.  The 25 goals allowed and the 1.14 goals against average both ranked fifth in the RMAC.  A three-time All-RMAC First Team member, Cole scored one goal this season and led the Rangers logging 1,885 of a possible 1,990 minutes, which is a Regis season record.

Buhler, a table-setter for the Ranger offense, was fourth on the team with four assists.  He has also scored four goals and was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on October 26th.  Buhler sports a 3.76 GPA in business management following his sophomore year and scored the game-winning goal in the Rangers 2-1 victory over then #1 Colorado Mines on October 24th.  Buhler was named to the First Team Academic All-RMAC squad earlier this season and was a First Team All-RMAC selection for his play on the field.

Emge was second on the Rangers scoring 10 goals this season and led the team with seven assists.  The Fort Collins, Colo. native ranked sixth in both goals scored and goals per game (0.53) in the RMAC.  The business management major with a 3.50 GPA, also ranked sixth in points per game with 1.42 per game.  Emge was a First Team All-RMAC selection this season and a NSCAA Second Team All-Region selection.  His 18 career goals are 11th best in school history and his 10 goals this season is tied for seventh best in one season at Regis.

Regis finished the season 14-3-4 and a first-ever berth into the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament.

Click here for full NSCAA Scholar All-America teams.