Tuesday, November 19, 2019

PORTLAND, Ore. – In 2017, the GNAC was introduced to a transfer soccer player from Seattle University. Two years later, Saint Martin’s senior forward Brandon Madsen leads the 2019 GNAC Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team as the Player of the Year.

Madsen took the conference and the nation by storm this season, scoring 18 goals and dishing out four assists to total 40 points. His 18 goals rank second in Division II and led the Saints in becoming the GNAC’s top-scoring offense. Madsen’s 47 goals in a Saints uniform also put him in a tie for second on the career leaderboard.

After bringing a GNAC title back to Bellingham for the first time since 2008, Western Washington’s Greg Brisbon earned the Coach of the Year award. Brisbon led Western Washington to a 10-1-1 record in conference play (13-4-1 overall) as the Vikings received the GNAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championship. The Vikings’ historic run included an eight-match win streak against conference opponents.

Vikings’ senior defender Jeremiah Lee was selected as the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year. Lee anchored a WWU defense that topped the conference with 14 goals allowed, eight shutouts and a 0.76 goals against average. Lee earned GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice in 2019 as the Vikings claimed the award for seven straight weeks.

Montana State Billings freshman goalkeeper Jessy Martin was named the Freshman of the Year after tallying six shutouts, a .779 save percentage and a GNAC-best 88 saves. Martin opened his collegiate career with back-to-back GNAC Defensive Player of the Week awards.

Northwest Nazarene sophomore defender Lorenzo Valentini earned Newcomer of the Year honors after leading the Nighthawks in three shutouts this season. He also scored five goals and added an assist.

Of the 12 players who earned First Team All-GNAC honors, seven were unanimous selections. Western Washington and Montana State Billings led the conference with three first-team selections.

Joining Lee on the first team are junior midfielder Georg Cholewa and junior defender Camron Miller. After earning a first-team nod last year, Cholewa followed with four goals and a GNAC-best nine assists in 2019. He was also named the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Player of the Week on Oct. 29. Miller aided Lee in leading the Viking defense and earned GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice this season.

Along with Martin, two other Yellowjackets landed on the first team. Junior forward Shantik Bedrosian was a unanimous selection after he scored four goals and distributed five assists. Senior defender Samuele Folla earned first-team honors after being named an honorable mention last year.

Simon Fraser brothers Matteo Polisi and Marcello Polisi found themselves on the first team for the third straight year. The junior midfielders were both unanimous picks. Matteo scored eight goals and led the GNAC with 3.47 shots per game while Marcello’s two goals were both game-winners.

Rounding out the First Team All-GNAC selections are Seattle Pacific junior forward Titus Grant and Concordia sophomore midfielder Nicholas Denley. Grant tallied nine goals and seven assists to earn first-team honors for the second consecutive year while Denley also scored nine goals to lead the Cavalier offense.

The GNAC champion Vikings led the field with 10 all-conference selections, including three first-team selections, four second-team selections and three honorable mention selections.

2019 GNAC MEN'S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Player of the Year: Brandon Madsen, Saint Martin’s
Coach of the Year: Greg Brisbon, Western Washington
Defensive Player of the Year: Jeremiah Lee, Western Washington
Freshman of the Year: Jessy Martin, Montana State Billings
Newcomer of the Year: Lorenzo Valentini, Northwest Nazarene