The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) announced the 2025 All-Conference Team and postseason awards on Thursday, May 1. AU junior long-stick midfielder Autsin Spoklie and Head Coach Reid Mayberry paved the way for AU's dominance on the postseason honors. AU received Defensive Player of the Year and Coaching Staff of the Year while seven Spartans earned first-team All-Conference, two were second team, and two honorable mention All-Conference selections. 

Defensive Player of the Year - Austin Spoklie, jr., LSM
Spoklie, a junior has started all 18 games for Aurora this season, compiling 48 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers as one of the top cover defenders in the region.

He recorded at least two ground balls in 15 of 18 games played this season, posting six along with two caused turnovers against Illinois Wesleyan. Spoklie also had five ground balls and four caused turnovers in a close 10-9 victory over Lake Forest on April 16.

Spoklie's numbers likely would have been higher had he not been pulled before halftime in nearly half of Aurora's contests due to the score. This is the second time in three years (Phillip Gianelle, 2023) that an Aurora student-athlete has been named NACC Defensive Player of the Year.

Coaching Staff of the Year - Reid Mayberry (Head Coach), Aurora University
Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Reid Mayberry, the Spartans won the NACC title for the fourth year in a row with a perfect 11-0 mark and take a 13-5 record into Saturday's NACC Tournament final against Concordia Wisconsin. Aurora has 38 consecutive NACC regular-season matches dating back to 2021. The Spartans have rebounded from an 0-5 start against a challenging non-conference slate to win their last 13 games by an average margin of 12.9 goals per game.

Defense has been a hallmark this season for the Spartans, who rank ninth in NCAA Division III in scoring defense, allowing a NACC-low 7.56 goals per game. That, along with a top-50 scoring offense (41st, 14.61 gpg), has allowed Aurora to post a league-best scoring margin at +7.06.

The Spartans are in the top half of the NACC in virtually every statistical category. In addition to leading in scoring defense and scoring margin, Aurora sits second in assists (156), assists per game (8.67), points (419), points per game (23.28),  caused turnovers per game (11.39), face-off winning percentage (.587), scoring offense (14.61), and fewest turnoves per game (18.72), and third in ground balls (667), ground balls per game (37.06), and opponents' clear percenrage (.767).

Mayberry is assisted by Joseph Dey, Camron Arnaud, and Kyle Honn. This is the third time in four years (2022, 2024-2025) that a Mayberry-coached Aurora staff has been recognized as the NACC Coaching Staff of the Year.

First-Team All-Conference
Joining Spoklie to earn First-Team All-Conference recognition were goalie Asher Deputy, defender Benjamin Jasper, midfielder Owen Spencer, midfielder Ben Strub, attack Rielan Pura and short-stick defensive midfielder Dean Romaker. Deputy flashed the badge often in goal for AU in 2025, holding a 13-5 record with an 8.64 goals against average and a .583 save percentage. Jasper, Romaker and Spoklie played huge roles in the AU defensive efforts with Jasper having 17 caused turnovers and 30 ground balls and Romaker having 19 caused turnovers and 26 ground balls. Pura leads the Spartans with 40 assists on the season while adding 10 goals, Spencer has 21 goals and 11 assists while Strub has 31 goals and 11 assists.

Second-Team All-Conference
Second-Team honors went to sophomore defender Noah Kosmicki and sophomore attack Tyler Foerstel. Kosmicki leads the Spartans with 24 caused turnovers from his defensive position while picking up 44 ground balls. Foerstel is AU's leader in goals with 36 and points with 52 as he also has 16 assists.

Honorable Mention All-Conference
Junior midfielder Chris Bucci and junior face-off specialist Eli Etzler were named to Honorable Mention honors. 

Next scheduled action for the Spartan men's lacrosse team comes on Saturday, May 3 when they host the championship round of the 2025 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament. AU hosts Concordia University Wisconsin with opening face-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Spartan Athletic Park in Montgomery, Illinois.