2018 All-CCAA Men's Soccer Teams Announced
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LA JOLLA, Calif. – The CCAA All-Conference Men’s Soccer Team and major award winners have been announced, in advance of the semifinal round of the 2018 CCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament.
The award winners are headlined by Offensive Player of the Year Danny Ortiz, who paced the Coyotes to their highest seed in the postseason tournament since 2010. The senior from El Paso, Texas, has been a dominant scoring force for the Coyotes, amassing league-bests of 36 points with 11 goals and 14 assists on the season. He is joined on the All-CCAA first team by Cal State San Bernardino senior midfielder Fabian Roman.
At the helm of the Coyotes is CCAA Coach of the Year Darren Leslie. In just his third season as a collegiate head coach, Leslie has his squad firing on all cylinders and back in the semifinals for the second time in his three-year stretch at Cal State San Bernardino.
Defensive Player of the Year honors go to San Francisco State’s Aydan Bowers. The senior from Murrieta was also a first-team honoree from a season ago and serves as the Gators co-captain, holding down the back line.
A new award this season, Damion Lewis has been tapped as Goalkeeper of the Year. The Chico State senior took home Defensive Player of the Year honors last year, and continued to shine in goal during his final collegiate season. Hailing from Miami, Fla., Lewis has compiled 10 shutouts on the season and 23 for his career for the Wildcats, including back-to-back clean sheets against UC San Diego to advance to Friday’s semifinals.
Wildcat Jeremiah Eguije joins Lewis as a first-team selection for back-to-back years, as the senior forward from Benin City, Nigeria, leads the Chico State scoring attack with nine goals and a league-high five game-winners. Eddie Zecena earns Freshman of the Year status, and lands on the All-CCAA second team. Hailing from Panorama City, Zecena is the lone freshman dotting the list of 2018 first- or second-team winners.
The final individual award belongs to Newcomer of the Year Daniel Simonis of Cal State LA. The sophomore from Karlsruhe, Germany, transferred to the Golden Eagles from Hastings College and is one of a trio of players on the team to net a double-digit point tally.
Three men from Cal State LA were voted to the first team: forward Leonardo Nogueira, midfielder Tim Klefisch and defender Morten Bjoershol. Nogueira is a repeat All-CCAA first-teamer with the unique distinction of earning honors for two different squads. Last season, the junior from Brasilia, Brazil was wearing the kit of Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Cal Poly Pomona also sees a trio of first-team All-CCAA picks, also nabbing one spot on the squad for each position. Forward Cyro Oliveira is joined by two-time selections Jimmie Villalobos and Nadeer Ghantous. The reigning NCAA West Region champions and 2017 NCAA semifinalist Broncos are looking to add more hardware to the collection, already earning the 2018 CCAA championship title as postseason play continues from La Jolla tomorrow.
All told, 10 schools from across the league are represented on the CCAA first and second teams. Each of the six individual awards as well as the All-CCAA selections were solely voted on by the CCAA’s 13 head coaches.
| 2018 CCAA Men's Soccer All-Conference Team |
| Offensive Player of the Year: |
Danny Ortiz, Cal State San Bernardino |
| Defensive Player of the Year: |
Aydan Bowers, San Francisco State |
| Goalkeeper of the Year: |
Damion Lewis, Chico State |
| Newcomer of the Year: |
Daniel Simonis, Cal State LA |
| Freshman of the Year: |
Eddie Zecena, Chico State |
| Coach of the Year: |
Darren Leslie, Cal State San Bernardino |
|
| All-CCAA First Team |
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
Hometown |
| Morten Bjoershol |
So. |
D |
Cal State LA |
Oslo, Norway |
| Aydan Bowers |
Sr. |
D |
San Francisco State |
Murrieta |
| Jeremiah Eguije |
Sr. |
F |
Chico State |
Benin City, Nigeria |
| Nadeer Ghantous |
Sr. |
D |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Hifa, Israel |
| Tim Klefisch |
Jr. |
M |
Cal State LA |
Leverkusen, Germany |
| Damion Lewis |
Sr. |
GK |
Chico State |
Miami, Fla. |
| Leonardo Nogueira |
Jr. |
F |
Cal State LA |
Brasilia, Brazil |
| Cyro Oliveira |
Jr. |
M |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Bauru, Brazil |
| Danny Ortiz |
Sr. |
F |
Cal State San Bernardino |
El Paso, Texas |
| Fabian Roman |
Sr. |
M |
Cal State San Bernardino |
Corcoran |
| Jimmie Villalobos |
Jr. |
M |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Oasis |
|
| All-CCAA Second Team |
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
Hometown |
| Andres Aguirre |
So. |
D |
Cal State San Bernardino |
Montclair |
| D’Morea Alewine |
Jr. |
M |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
Monrovia |
| Gus Baxter |
Jr. |
F |
Humboldt State |
Snohomish, Wash. |
| Alexander Brems |
Jr. |
GK |
Cal State LA |
Odense, Denmark |
| Robin Lindahl |
Jr. |
F |
Cal State LA |
Lillestroem, Norway |
| Luis Lopez |
Jr. |
M |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
Martinez |
| Matt Merrill |
Sr. |
M |
UC San Diego |
Mission Viejo |
| Antonio Rosas |
Jr. |
D |
Cal State LA |
Monrovia |
| Sebastian Santos |
So. |
F |
Sonoma State |
Sacramento |
| Kelvin Uribe |
Jr. |
D |
UC San Diego |
Lake Forest |
| Eddie Zecena |
Fr. |
M |
Chico State |
Panorama City |
|
| Honorable Mention |
| GK – Jacob Hansen (CPP); Bryan Hernandez (HSU); Peter Swinkels (SFSU); F –Jonathan Ayala (CSUEB); Jonathan Sabouri (UCSD); Walmer Martinez (CSUMB); Carlos Trujeque (SFSU); M –Jonathan Cuevas (CSUEB); Eduardo Faria (CPP); Gustav Fink (SFSU); Moses Gutierrez (SFSU); Ronan McEnroe (CHICO); Adrian Rebollar (CSUMB); Ethan Waters (HSU); Adrian Yepez (STAN); Carlos Zarate (CSULA); D –Martin Calderon (HSU); Garrett Hogbin (CHICO), Jacob Penner (CSUMB); Jeff Powers (UCSD); Tariq Pulskamp (SFSU); Andrew Stalboerger (CSUSM). |