Wednesday, December 6, 2017

AUSTIN, Texas – More soccer awards continue to come for the GNAC, with three players selected to the 2017 CoSIDA Soccer Academic All-America Team.

Seattle Pacific men’s soccer senior defender Ryan Higgins received first-team honors while teammate senior midfielder Jess Cayetano was selected for the third team. On the women’s side, Concordia senior defender Ana Delgadillo received second-team recognition after guiding the Cavaliers to its first-ever Division II postseason tournament.

Higgins leads all GNAC selections with a 3.97 GPA. A business administration major, Higgins played significant minutes for a Falcons team that was just three points shy of its third GNAC title in four years. Higgins started in all but one of his 15 appearances, tallying a goal and an assist. His lone goal came in a 2-1 double-overtime win against Fort Hays State on Sept. 14, where he notched the golden goal with 26 seconds remaining in the match.

Cayetano, a physiology major with a 3.98 GPA, played significant minutes for the Falcons and started in all but three contests. The midfielder was a Second Team All-GNAC selection after he was second on the team with six assists and also had three goals. He was fourth for the Falcons with 1,256 minutes played and boasted a .412 shot-on-goal percentage. Cayetano tallied the game-winning goal in SPU’s 5-3 affair against Saint Martin’s on Oct. 12 for his team’s fourth conference win of the season.

Delgadillo, the 2017 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, helped Concordia to its first GNAC regular-season title and the second round of the NCAA Division II West Regionals. Boasting a 3.92 GPA as a psychology major, Delgadillo recorded two goals and two assists in 18 appearances this season. She led a Cavs’ backline that recorded 12 shutouts and allowed just 12 goals for a 0.65 goals against average.

Of the 33 members on each CoSIDA Academic All-America Division II team, 25 men and 28 women have at least a 3.90 GPA, while a total of 27 student-athletes maintain a perfect 4.00 GPA.

Nominated and voted upon by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the Academic All-America program recognizes student-athletes of sophomore standing or better who are starters or significant reserves for their team with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or better.