The Laredo Heat SC had three players honored in the National Premier Soccer League 2021 Conference XI Selections for the Lone Star Conference announced Thursday.

Representing the Heat in the awards were forward Nadav Datner, midfielder Oscar Govea and goalkeeper Gage Rogers. Defender Gabriel Claudio and head coach John Powell were also nominated but did not make the final selections.

The Heat finished 8-1-1 in the regular season to fall just short of the No. 1 seed in the Lone Star Conference. Laredo opened the postseason at home with a 3-0 win over the Midland-Odessa Sockers FC before falling 3-1 at the Denton Diablos FC in the Lone Star Conference finals.

Rogers was a key part of the No. 1 defense in the conference as the Heat allowed an average of only a goal per game in the regular season. Late in the season, Laredo had a stretch of four clean sheets in five games including the playoff opener. It had five total shutouts and did not allow more than two goals in a match until Denton scored just before the final whistle in the conference finals.

The No. 1 defense in the Lone Star Conference was backed by the No. 2 offense as the Heat averaged 2.7 goals in the regular season. Datner scored a third of those goals and assisted on several others, and he finished with 10 goals including the postseason. His effort earned him a spot on the NPSL Team of the Month for June after also being nominated in May. Govea was also crucial to the offensive and defensive effort including assisting on a goal in the playoff opener.

Denton’s Ramon Raya was the honoree at head coach after leading the Diablos to the title. Datner was joined at forward by Irving’s Joe Conway and Denton’s Sam Coad. Govea was joined in the midfield by Midland’s Brandon Duarte, Denton’s Carlos Flores and Katy’s Kelechi Onyewuenyi. The three selections at defender were Katy’s Tarik Abdi, Fort Worth’s Joseph Cervantes and Midland’s Ben Quigley.