BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh men's soccer senior midfielder Stevo Bednarsky entered this abbreviated season as one of the most important players on the field, wearing the captain's armband and one of the leaders of the offense. On Wednesday afternoon, Bednarsky was named one of 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
 
Bednarsky is one of two candidates selected from the Patriot League (Bucknell's Matt Thorsheim) and is Lehigh's third straight candidate (Mark Forrest 2018, Will Smith 2019) and fourth in the last five years.
 
He has seen academic success at a prestigious institution in Lehigh's College of Arts and Sciences. Lehigh is currently tied for 49th nationally in the U.S. News and World Report list of top national universities.
 
As a sociology/anthropology major, Bednarsky has achieved a 3.0 cumulative grade point average and was featured on the Dean's List following the Fall 2020 semester.
 
Bednarsky enters the spring 2021 season as a two-time team captain, showing leadership both on and off the field and throughout the university. While at Lehigh, Bednarsky has been actively involved with Lehigh's Flight 45 program, Lehigh Athletics' Leadership Academy in the Emerging Leaders program, which educates sophomore and junior student-athletes regarding how to lead by example, develop relationships with teammates, and gain the credibility to lead their team vocally while actively supporting the efforts of current team captains.
 
As a co-captain, a member of the program's leadership council and successful member of the team over the past three seasons, Bednarsky has displayed strong character through his time dedicated to weight-training, skill work, practice, team meetings, conditioning and studying film. He shows his leadership through his actions on and off the field, evident by the team's success during his tenure.
 
Prior to Lehigh, Bednarsky was a starter and captain of his club team, Stronghold SC.
 
Like so many of his teammates and other student-athletes at the university, Bednarsky has been a part of many efforts within his Lehigh community. Lehigh men's soccer, along with every Lehigh Athletics team, takes part in Adopt-A-Family. During this annual event, the Mountain Hawks provide a holiday for an underprivileged family. Along with Lehigh fraternities, sororities and other departments, the event itself has raised up to $30,000.
 
He has been a consistent helper with the program's camps and clinics, taking the time out of his schedule in the summer to assist the coaching staff and clinicians, as well as during the season when the program hosts clinics prior to and following weekend games.
 
Lastly, Bednarsky has gained extensive experience coaching a local youth club team, Lehigh Valley United, through which he hopes he can pursue his dream and begin his soccer coaching career following graduation.
Bednarsky has had a stellar three-year career with the Mountain Hawks so far, kicking things off with a strong freshman season where he was named an All-Patriot League third team selection as a defender. He provided a pair of assists while starting in all 15 of his appearances. Bednarsky played and started in 18 games as a sophomore midfielder/defender, tallying one assist.
 
He had his best season in 2019, scoring two goals with an assist in 20 starts in the midfield, including a game-winning score. Bednarsky was named an All-Patriot League first team selection and was an All-Atlantic Region second team selection by the United Soccer Coaches.
 
Finally, Bednarsky was named to the All-Patriot League Tournament team in 2019 after helping guide the Mountain Hawks to their third Patriot League Tournament title in program history and fifth NCAA Tournament berth.
 
In high school at Gil Saint Bernard's School in Hackettstown, N.J., Bednarsky was an All-State first team selection and Skylands Conference Player of the Year, leading his team to a New Jersey state title berth in 2016.
 
The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists in April, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select the candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character, and competition.
 
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships in May.
 
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