Cal State LA Keeper Brems Garners CCAA Player of the Week Distinction
Complete list of weekly winners >>>
Senior goalkeeper Alexander Brems kept No. 2 Cal State LA undefeated on the season with a tie and shutout triumph away from home against top rivals, and was selected as the CCAA Player of the Week for Oct. 14-20.
Brems, from Odense, Denmark, aided the Golden Eagles to a 1-1 double-overtime draw at No. 13 Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday afternoon in the Coyotes’ 2019 home debut. Cal State San Bernardino took a 12th-minute lead courtesy of a Francisco Sierra free kick, but the visitors found the equalizer at 84:45 through Daniel Simonis, the 2018 CCAA Newcomer of the Year. Brems wound up with a pair of saves over the 110 minutes, as the Golden Eagles halted the Coyotes’ four-match win streak.
Brems then made a season- and career-high eight stops in keeping his sixth individual clean sheet of 2019 in another marquee matchup. Playing at the home of reigning CCAA regular-season champion Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday, Cal State LA got a golden-goal winner at 96:40 from Leonardo Nogueira to knock off the Broncos, 1-0. Cal Poly Pomona had entered the day alone in first place in the league table. One of those eight saves was of the point-blank variety earlier in the extra period to extend the contest. Brems’ previous season best was three stops.
Over Cal State LA’s 206:40 played for the weekend, Brems kept a .435 goals-against average and collected 10 saves. He now ranks fifth nationally in Division II in GAA (.443). Brems gained Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-America First Team distinction as a first-year Golden Eagle last season.
Brems is Cal State LA’s first CCAA weekly honoree of 2019. He is the first Golden Eagle net-minder to be so recognized since Mike Beigarten back on Oct. 7, 2014.
Cal State LA is one of six unbeaten teams remaining in Division II men’s soccer. The Golden Eagles are in a three-way tie for second place in the CCAA standings with Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino, with one game in hand. They trail only UC San Diego, but by two points with two less league contests played. The teams meet in Los Angeles in primetime on Nov. 2. This week, Cal State LA is at Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday at 4:30 p.m., and Cal State East Bay on Sunday.
Also nominated:
Isaiah Dairo, Humboldt State
Crinan Dunbar, San Francisco State
Tommy Flora, Cal State East Bay
Brett Jones, UC San Diego
Raul Meza, Cal State San Marcos
Francisco Sierra, Cal State San Bernardino