Monday, November 10, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Northwest Nazarene men’s soccer team was honored with four awards by the GNAC on Monday while Simon Fraser’s Jovan Blagojevic was unanimously selected as the conference’s Player of the Year.

NNU’s Coe Michaelson and SPU’s Mark Collings were chosen as co-Coaches of the Year while the Crusaders also took home the GNAC defensive, newcomer and freshman of the Year honors.

Blagojevic, who ranks seventh in the nation in goals scored with 18 and was a second team honoree in 2013, was one of five unanimous selections chosen on the first team.

GNAC Newcomer of the Year Julio Castillo and defensive Player of the Year Alfredo Ontiveros were universally selected as was Seattle Pacific’s Stephen MacDonald and SFU’s Alex Kleefeldt.

Nine of the 11 players on the first team are from Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene.

The conferences Freshman of the Year, Yannick Petzschke, was also selected to the first team. Senior teammate and 2013 Newcomer of the Year Fredy Razo made the team for the second consecutive year after leading the Crusaders in goals.

A trio of defensive players for the Falcons also were repeaters on the first team. Junior Bryson Pavel and sophomores Davis Karaica and Cody Lang helped SPU earn the second lowest goals-against average in the nation.

Junior midfielder Danny Olivas from the Falcons rounded out the 11-player team.

Overall, seven SPU players made the GNAC’s first or second team while Northwest Nazarene placed six. None of the Falcons first team members are seniors.

Fifth ranked Seattle Pacific led all teams with 11 players selected to the three teams. Northwest Nazarene and Western Washington each had seven.

The Vikings represented a quarter of the players on the 2014 GNAC second team led by senior Tye Hastings. Saint Martin’s also had a pair on the team, including the Saints leading scorer Tody Tolo.

While the GNAC season is over for most of the teams, Seattle Pacific, Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser await to see where they are headed in the NCAA tournament Monday at 4:30 p.m. 

GNAC MEN’S ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

FIRST TEAM: Forwards - *Fredy Razo, NNU (5-10, Sr., Irvine, CA); +Jovan Blagojevic, SFU (6-0, Sr., Coquitlam, BC); +Stephen MacDonald, SPU (6-2, So., Phoenix, AZ).  Midfielders - +Julio Castillo, NNU (5-6, Jr., Wilmington, CA); +Alex Kleefeldt, SFU (6-3, Sr., Frankfurt, Germany); Danny Olivas, SPU (6-1, Jr., Phoenix, AZ).  Defenders - Yannick Petzschke, NNU (6-3, Fr., Hamburg, Germany); *Davis Karaica, SPU (6-1, So., Snoqualmie, WA); *Bryson Pavel, SPU (6-0, Jr., Boise, ID).  Goalkeepers - +Alfredo Ontiveros, NNU (6-2, Sr., La Puente, CA); *Cody Lang, SPU (6-3, So., Spokane, WA). *Repeater +Unanimous Selection

SECOND TEAM: Forwards -  Tye Hastings, WWU (6-0, Sr., Mill Creek, WA); Erik Anderson, NNU (5-8, Jr., Boise, ID); Sean Russell, SPU (5-11, Sr., Seattle, WA).  Midfielders -  Kaleb Strawn, SMU (5-9, So., Sammamish, WA); Chaz Jenkins, SPU (5-11, So., Maryville, WA); Kurtis Pederson, WWU (6-1, Jr., Puyallup, WA); Luke Olney, WWU (6-0, Fr., Enumclaw, WA).  Defenders -  Jonathan Sellars. UM (6-1, Jr., York, England); Rhys Lambert, MSUB (6-1, So., Gold Coast Australia); Juan Perez, NNU (6-0, Sr., Los Angeles, CA); Joel Malouf, SFU (6-1, Sr., Kelowna, BC).  Goalkeeper - Brandon Watson, SFU (6-1, So., Victoria, BC).

HONORABLE MENTION: Forwards - Tody Tolo, SMU (6-0, Sr., Tukwila, WA); Colin Ralston, MSUB (6-2, So., Belfair, WA); Michael McGraw,  SDM (6-3, Jr., Vandalia, OH); Sean Tabbert, SDM (6-1, Fr., Wind Lake, WI). Midfielders - Uche Ugwoaba, WWU (5-7, Jr., Burien, WA); Christoffer Nogueria, UM (5-9, Fr., Kungsbacka, Sweden); Adam Potter, UM (5-9, Jr., Waterford, Ireland); Aaron McElwee, UM (5-9, Sr., Sion Mills, N. Ireland); Kyle Emerick, MSUB (5-8, Sr., Billings, MT); Jaime Verdin, NNU (5-8, Jr., San Diego, CA); Ian Adams, SPU (5-11, Jr., Shoreline, WA); Jordan Kollars, SPU (5-10, So., Silverdale, WA); Andreas Skau, SDM (6-0, Jr., Bergen, Norway); Gabriele Zaccagnini, WWU (5-8, Sr., Olympia, WA).  Defenders - Sam Butterworth, MSUB (5-11 Jr., Aylesford, England); Jeffrey Collings, SPU (5-9, So., Seattle, WA); Evan Robicheau,  SPU (6-0, Sr., Puyallup, WA); Robert Hyams, SFU (5-10, So., Brentwood, UK); Troy McCarty, WWU (6-0, So., Snohomish, WA).  Goalkeeper - Keegan Rogers, WWU (GK, 6-1, Sr., Portland, OR).

Player of the Year – +Jovan Blagojevic, SFU (F, 6-0, Sr., Coquitlam, BC)
Defensive Player of the Year -  Alfredo Ontiveros, NNU (GK, 6-2, Sr., La Puente, CA)
Newcomer of the Year - +Julio Castillo, NNU (M, 5-6, Jr., Wilmington, CA)
Freshman of the Year - Yannick Petzschke, NNU (D, 6-3, Fr., Hamburg, Germany)
Coach of the Year – Coe Michaelson, Northwest Nazarene,  and Mark Collings, Seattle Pacific (4 votes each)