Monday, November 30, 2015
PORTLAND, Ore. – Led by five first team selections, the GNAC placed six men’s soccer players on the Division II Men’s Soccer Conference Commissioners Association All-West Region Team.
Seattle Pacific led all GNAC teams with three first team selections. GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Cody Lang was selected as the first team goalkeeper, joined by midfielder Danny Olivas and defender Davis Karaica. GNAC Player of the Year Julio Castillo represented Northwest Nazarene on the all-region squad, along with the conference’s leading scorer, Ricardo Palomino of Montana State Billings. Simon Fraser’s Adam Jones was selected to the second team.
Lang was part of a trio that led Seattle Pacific to the GNAC championship. The Falcons had the top scoring defense in the conference, led by Lang’s 0.49 goals against average and .868 save percentage. The SPU goalkeeper allowed just nine goals in 18 matches this season. Karaica anchored the Falcons’ backline that limited opponents to 10.2 shots per match and just over three corner kicks per match. Olivas helped provide the offense for the Falcons, leading the team with five goals, 13 points and four game-winning goals. Seattle Pacific finished the season 13-1-4 and 9-1-3 in GNAC play. They were the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II West Region Championships.
Castillo led Northwest Nazarene to a 12-6-1 overall record, 8-5-1 GNAC. He was one of the most dynamic players in the league leading the conference easily with 15 assists. Along with his player of the year award, Castillo was selected First Team All-GNAC after leading the Crusaders to third place in the conference.
The Yellowjackets’ finished the regular season in fourth place with a 6-5-3 GNAC record, 8-6-4 overall. They were led by an extrodinary season by Palomino, the league’s Newcomer of the Year. The sophomore led the GNAC with 34 points and 16 goals, often leading the Yellowjackets to victory singlehandedly. Palomino was a First Team All-GNAC selection in his first year of competition in the conference.
Freshman of the Year Adam Jones led Simon Fraser to second place in the GNAC with a 9-2-3 GNAC record, 10-3-4 overall. The Clan made a late push for the GNAC Championship and narrowly missed out on an invite to the NCAA Division West Region Championships. Jones led the team with eight goals and six assists and led the conference with 73 total shots and 4.29 per game. Jones was the lone freshman selected onto the all-region team.
The GNAC had six of the 23 total selections to the all-region squad. Christian Gonzalez Diaz of Cal Poly Pomona was named the West Region Player of the Year. Seattle Pacific and Caly Poly Pomona led the first team with three selections, while the Broncos and Fresno Pacific led all teams with four total selections each.