Jaden Lunger cemented himself as one of the best players in Otterbein men’s soccer history and capped off a decorated career in 2017 as one of the top defenders in the country.

Starting 20 games for the Cardinals in 2017, Lunger earned third-team All-America honors after battling back from a mid-season injury to help lead the team to the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular-season and tournament championship for the first time since 2002.

The team’s success led to Otterbein hosting the first-two rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament at Memorial Stadium, as the Cards defeated Medaille (2-0) and nationally-ranked Kenyon (3-2) before falling to fourth-ranked St. Thomas (3-0) in the Sweet 16.

As a staple on the backline of the Cardinal defense, Lunger served as one of two captain’s and helped the team post the top-ranked defense in the league (0.82) along with a league-best 11 shutouts. In addition, the team All-Great Lakes Region honors to pair with his second-straight Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Defender of the Year award.  

A four-time all-conference pick and two-time OAC Defender-of-the-Year honoree, Lunger also consistently proved to be a scoring threat on set pieces throughout his entire career with a total of 14 points on five goals and four assists in 71 games played.  

Perhaps two of the best highlights of Lunger’s career came his final campaign when he helped lift the team to victory with a game-tying goal against ninth-ranked John Carroll (2-1), before assisting on the game-tying score against Marietta (2-1) in the OAC Tournament semifinals.

Lunger, a Philosophy major, helped the Cardinals finish with a 19-3 record and perfect 13-0 mark at home in 2017 to accompany a program-best 17-game win streak.