GREENVILLE, S.C. – Headlined by a freshman first-team selection for the first time in program history, five members of the Converse University men's soccer team were named All-Conference selections as announced by the Conference Carolinas office on Friday afternoon.

Freshman forwards Jacob Bandel and Levi Bankirer become just the second freshmen in program history to earn all-conference honors.

Bandel is the first Converse freshman to earn first-team accolades. Senior forward Guilherme Fontes, junior defender Jesper Shierholz and redshirt-senior goalkeeper Harry O'Brien all were named second team all-conference. Bankirer rounds out the team's honorees with third-team honors.

Bandel, a freshman from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, led the Valkyries in scoring with 27 points. He netted 11 goals and five assists, putting him first in single-season points and goals in program history. Bandel had two multi-goal games and became just the second Valkyrie to score 10 or more goals in a season. The Sherrills-Ford native ranks second in Conference Carolinas in goals scored and fourth in total points.

Fontes, a senior from São Paulo, Brazil, netted five goals and assisted on eight, putting him second on the team in scoring with 18 points. He started all 17 games this season, logging 1,440 minutes. Fontes ranks third in Conference Carolinas in assists this season.

O'Brien, a redshirt-senior from Manchester, England, played all but one game for the Valkyries, allowing an average of 1.68 goals per game. O'Brien averaged 3.00 saves per game, 48 total with a .649 save percentage. In the team's third game of the season, O'Brien became the first goalkeeper in program history to record a point with a long assist on the Valkyries' second goal of the game. In Wednesday night's opening-round loss to Emmanuel, O'Brien became the first goalkeeper in program history to record a goal with a late-game header.

Schierholz, a junior from Walsrode, Germany, led the Valkyries in assists with nine, mainly earned through being the main corner-kick taker for the Valkyries in 2025. His total of nine assists is second in the conference only to Offensive Player of the Year Thomas Kleinpenning of Young Harris. Schierholz started all 17 games for the Valkyries, logging 1,298 minutes on the pitch.

Bankirer, a freshman from Mooresville, North Carolina, scored the second-most goals for the team this season, netting six. In his freshman campaign, Bankirer's six goals were good for 12th-most in Conference Carolinas. He appeared in all 17 games and made 11 starts, tallying 903 minutes.

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