Cal State Dominguez Hills' Sulaiman Bah and Cal State Monterey Bay's Colin O'Mahony headline the 2022 All-CCAA men's soccer team and special award winners.
Bah was named the 2022 CCAA Offensive Player of the Year, and O'Mahony captured Defensive Player of the Year honors. The Toros' Eddie Soto was named the 2022 Coach of the Year, and the four remaining special honors all went to Cal State LA student-athletes.
Alvaro Unanua repeated as the CCAA Goalkeeper of the Year. Marlon Radel was voted the Freshman of the Year, and Oliver Diaz was tabbed the Newcomer of the Year. Daniel Garcia took home the new Midfielder of the Year award.
Sulaiman Bah put together one of the greatest offensive seasons in CCAA history during the 2022 season. The sophomore midfielder scored 17 goals in just 18 matches. His 17 goals were more than double second place (8), ranking him third in all of NCAA Division II. Bah ranked second in the country in total points (44) as he also added a CCAA-best 10 assists. The five-time CCAA Offensive Player of the Week also led the nation with seven game-winning goals. Bah posted a point in all but three matches this season, and he posted five multi-goal matches to help lead the Toros to an undefeated regular season.
Colin O'Mahony was a catalyst in helping lead Cal State Monterey Bay into the CCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007. The 2022 CCAA Defensive Player of the Year anchored a defense that posted six shutouts and gave up a goal or less in 11 of 18 matches. O'Mahony picked up a pair of CCAA/Pixellot Defensive Player of the Week awards in the middle of the season when he helped lead the Otters to shutouts in five of six games. O'Mahony assisted on the game-winners in 1-0 wins over Chico State, Stanislaus Sate and Cal State East Bay. He added a game-winner of his own in a 1-0 victory over Cal State San Marcos. The Cork, Ireland native ranked seventh in the CCAA with a team-leading four assists.
Eddie Soto was named the CCAA Coach of the Year after leading the Toros to an undefeated regular season and their first CCAA Championship since 2015. Cal State Dominguez Hills began the season unranked before climbing all the way to No. 2 in the United Soccer Coaches poll. He coached his team to a 1-0 road win over the nation's No. 1 ranked team and defending national champions, Cal State LA, and the Toros carried that momentum through the season to earn the No. 1 seed in the CCAA Tournament. CSUDH finished the regular season with the eighth-best goal differential (30) in NCAA Division II, and it also ranked 12th in goals against average (.667) and 19th in points per game (6.61).
Alvaro Unanua became the first student-athlete to earn CCAA Goalkeeper of the Year honors in consecutive seasons, and just the fifth to win a CCAA special honor in back-to-back years. The Pamplona, Spain native led the conference and ranked eighth in Division II with a .848 save percentage. He helped the Golden Eagles finish eighth in shutout percentage (.588) and fifth in save percentage (.855). Unanua and the Golden Eagles shut out their opponents in 10 of 17 matches, and only twice did they allow more than two goals all season. Unanua ranks 15th nationally with seven shutouts and 11th with a .615 goals against average.
Marlon Radel is the second consecutive Golden Eagle to win CCAA Freshman of the Year honors. The defender burst on the scene the first week of the year when he stepped into a starting role for the defending national champions and earned CCAA/Pixellot Defensive Player of the Week honors. Radel helped Cal State LA's defense again be one of the best units in the country. The Golden Eagles ranked sixth in goals against average (.588), seventh in goal differential (+33), and eighth in shutout percentage (.588).
Oliver Diaz transferred to Cal State LA from El Camino College prior to the 2022 season. The defender tied for the team lead with four assists and finished second with five goals en route to being named the 2022 CCAA Newcomer of the Year. Diaz's 14 points ranked him eighth in the CCAA. The Hawthorne native scored in his first match wearing black & gold, and he put together a two-goal performance against San Francisco State. Diaz played a critical role in the comeback win against Biola, scoring a goal and posting an assist, as the Golden Eagles extended their unbeaten streak at the time to 22 matches.
Cal State LA's
Daniel Garcia takes home the newly established CCAA Midfielder of the Year award. Garcia helped guide the top offense in the CCAA while adding three goals and four assists. The Golden Eagles led the CCAA and ranked 10th in Division II, scoring 2.53 goals per match. They ranked seventh in both goal differential (+33) and assists per game (2.47) and ninth in total points (128). Garcia added game-winning goals over Concordia and Cal State Monterey Bay and assisted on the game-winner over San Francisco State.
Garcia, Diaz, O'Mahony, and Bah all earned first team All-CCAA honors for the first time in their career. Unanua was one of just three repeat selections on the All-CCAA first team, along with Cal Poly Pomona's Paul Henschke and Cesar Ruvalcaba. Radel earned a second team nod.
Eight CCAA universities were represented on the All-CCAA first or second teams. There were six repeat selections among the selections.
Cal Poly Pomona led the way with six members on the All-CCAA first or second team. Cal State LA was second with five, and Cal State Dominguez Hills had four. All seven individual awards and the All-CCAA selections were solely voted on by the CCAA's 12 head coaches. Click here to see the complete 2022 All-CCAA Men's Soccer Team.
The all-conference awards are announced on the brink of the CCAA Men's Soccer Tournament, which begins on Friday, Nov. 4, on the campus of Cal State San Bernardino. Follow along with the competition at CCAAnetwork.com.
Complete All-CCAA men's soccer team
| 2022 CCAA Men's Soccer All-Conference Team |
| Offensive Player of the Year |
Sulaiman Bah, Cal State Dominguez Hills |
| Defensive Player of the Year |
Colin O'Mahony, Cal State Monterey Bay |
| Goalkeeper of the Year |
Alvaro Unanua, Cal State LA |
| Midfielder of the Year |
Daniel Garcia, Cal State LA |
| Newcomer of the Year |
Oliver Diaz, Cal State LA |
| Freshman of the Year |
Marlon Radel, Cal State LA |
| Coach of the Year |
Eddie Soto, Cal State Dominguez Hills |
| All-CCAA First Team |
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
Hometown |
| Colin O'Mahony |
Jr. |
D |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
Cork, Ireland |
| Cesar Ruvalcaba* |
So. |
D |
Cal Poly Pomona |
South Gate, Calif. |
| Dylan Tovani& |
Sr. |
D |
Cal Poly Humboldt |
Oakley, Calif. |
| Sulaiman Bah& |
So. |
F |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
Bo, Sierra Leone |
| Paul Henschke* |
Jr. |
F |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Berlin, Germany |
| Bryan Ortega |
Jr. |
F |
Cal State LA |
Los Angeles, Calif. |
| Oliver Diaz |
Jr. |
MF |
Cal State LA |
Hawthorne, Calif. |
| Daniel Garcia |
Sr. |
MF |
Cal State LA |
Long Beach, Calif. |
| Melvyn Perez Cortez |
Jr. |
MF |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Los Angeles, Calif. |
| Sean Rohane& |
Jr. |
MF |
Sonoma State |
San Diego, Calif. |
| Alvaro Unanua* |
Sr. |
GK |
Cal State LA |
Pamplona, Spain |
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| All-CCAA Second Team |
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
Hometown |
| David Aguilera |
Sr. |
D |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
Anaheim, Calif. |
| Zane Baumgardt |
So. |
D |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
Federal Way, Wash. |
| Marlon Radel |
Fr. |
D |
Cal State LA |
Magstadt, Germany |
| Juan Perez |
Sr. |
F |
Cal Poly Humboldt |
Vallejo, Calif. |
| Jerry Ramirez |
Sr. |
F |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Corona, Calif. |
| Josh Santillan |
Sr. |
F |
Stanislaus State |
Newark, Calif. |
| Adrian Fontanelli |
Jr. |
MF |
Chico State |
Novato, Calif. |
| Oscar Griehsel Facey |
Sr. |
MF |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Stockholm, Sweden |
| Michael McKibbin |
So. |
MF |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
Torrance, Calif. |
| Jeronimo Valdepena |
Sr. |
MF |
Cal State San Bernardino |
Riverside, Calif. |
| CJ Walker |
So. |
GK |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Moorpark, Calif. |
| Honorable Mention |
| GK - Luis Albarran (Chico), Sebastian Ascencio (CSUDH), Adrian Gallardo (HUM), Aiden Hanes (CSUSB), Matthias Milton (CSUMB). F - Roberto Banegas (CSUMB), Aaron Farnan (CSUEB), Gustavo Ferrari* (SFSU), Miles Rice (CHICO), Nicklaus Sullivan (CSUSB), Nick Walker (CSUDH). M - Chris Collazos (CSUSM), Drew Gibbons (CSUEB), Julio Gonzalez Ponce (SFSU), Miguel Guerrero (CSUMB), Finn Hoffmann (STAN), Mike Moser (CPP), Motoki Sato (HUM), Ulysses Vega (SSU), Martin Velasquez (CSUDH). D - Trevor Fritz (CHICO), Manuel Garcia (CSLA), Neil Gillies (CSUSB), Eugene Martinez (CPP), Andrew Portis (CSLA), Oliver Reader (CSUSM), Alpha Sowe (CSUDH), Derek Westwood (CSUSM). |
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* - previous All-CCAA first team selection, & - previous All-CCAA second team selection. |