Valparaiso juniors Mitch Albrecht (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) and Eric Nieto (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Louisville [Ky.] Collegiate) have been named to the Madness Horizon 2013 All-Conference Teams, as announced by CollegeSportsMadness.com. Albrecht was named to the first team, while Nieto was named to the second team.

Albrecht was selected to the Madness Horizon All-Conference First Team after an impressive junior campaign. Albrecht, the anchor of the Crusaders’ backline, showed consistency, skill, and poise in every match the season. Albrecht was the only Crusader to have played in, and started in, every match of the season. Not surprisingly, he was far and away the team leader in minutes with 1,573 total regular season minutes played - the only Crusader to have surpassed the 1,500-minute mark. Albrecht was named as the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 4 - Nov. 10.

Nieto earned the Madness Horizon All-Conference Second Team selection after being tabbed as a preseason favorite. In his junior year, Nieto appeared in 13 matches, making 11 starts along the way.  The junior defender finished the 2013 campaign with one goal and two total points. Nieto’s goal on the road at Kentucky was an impressive one, as he was able to beat a Wildcat defender and hit the ball on a rope into the top left corner of the goal.