North Carolina was the national champion, but Charlotte was the story.

The College Cup finale was especially intriguing this year because of the 49ers – an unranked program that turned heads with their giant-killing run through the NCAA Tournament. 

If you followed their feat then surely you followed midfielder Tyler Gibson, the team's stabilizer and our No. 1 player in the season-ending Atlantic 10 rankings. 

Charlotte beat opponents with solid play, defense and some penalty kick magic and Gibson was an important figure on all three fronts. 

He scored critical PKs in Charlotte's Elite Eight upset win over Connecticut as well as their College Cup victory over Creighton. 

He also assisted on a pair of NCAA Tournament scores for his team and did the kind of quiet behind the scenes work for a team that was all too conspicuous. 

On the women's side, our top player in the Atlantic 10 is Dayton's Colleen Williams, a player who has cemented her place in her program's history.

Amidst 16 goals and 15 assists worth of domination this year Williams became Dayton's all-time career lead in assists and is second all-time in points. 

She's the best player in the conference and our rankings say so.