The 2016-17 American Family Insurance ALL-USA Boys Soccer Teams were selected based on performance, level of competition and strength of schedule.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Haji Abdikadir, Louisville (Ky.) Collegiate
MORE: First Team | Second Team | Third Team
COACH PROFILE:
Name: Mike McLaughlin
School: St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio)
Mike McLaughlin is a St. Ignatius lifer. He graduated from the Cleveland school in 1985 and started working there in 1992, just a few years after he graduated from Quincy (Ill.) College. He started as a theology teacher and is now the chair of the Theology Department.
He has also been the school’s boys soccer coach since 1995, racking up wins and state titles in impressive fashion.
The Wildcats won their third consecutive Ohio Division I state crown last fall and finished No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/National Soccer Coaches Association of America Super 25 for fall boys soccer after sharing the No. 1 ranking in 2015. They went 21-0-2 to extend their three-year unbeaten streak to 59 games. Those accomplishments have earned McLaughlin the title of American Family Insurance ALL-USA Boys Soccer Coach of the Year.
St. Ignatius was a perfect 19-0 against in-state competition. Its two ties came against (Raleigh, N.C.) Cardinal Gibbons and St. Louis (Mo.) University, top teams in their respective states. The Wildcats also traveled to Colorado for a pair of games against two of the top teams in the Rocky Mountain State.
“It’s really hard to win one title, even more difficult to win two in a row and no team in Ohio ever won three in a row,” McLaughlin said. “We began the season as the No. 1 team in the state and country, and we finished the season No. 1. That’s a really difficult thing to do.”
As McLaughlin is quick to say, it helps to have really talented players. ALL-USA Second Team selection Stephen Milhoan led the Wildcats with 31 goals and nine assists and was named the National Player of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Milhoan, who is headed to Xavier, was one of four seniors on the team who will play Division I college soccer this fall.
McLaughlin owns eight state championships and four national titles. He has a career record of 374-46-46 and was the 2006 NSCAA Private/Parochial National Coach of the Year.