Wednesday, November 9, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – Simon Fraser has often had to battle the elements along with their opponents this season. Through it all, junior midfielder Mark Talisuna proved to be a consistent team leader and headlines the 2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team.

Named the GNAC Player of the Year, Talisuna was a key presence in the Simon Fraser midfield all season, logging 1,519 minutes while starting all 17 matches. He was the Red Leafs’ go-to player from the penalty spot, taking all three of SFU’s penalty kicks and netting every one for his three goals on the year.

Talisuna is joined on the first team by teammate and junior midfielder Devin O’Hea. O’Hea started all 17 matches and was the second-highest scoring player for Simon Fraser, netting six goals and adding two assists.

Talisuna is also one of three repeat first-team selections along with Northwest Nazarene senior defender Lorenzo Valentini and Seattle Pacific senior goalkeeper Lars Helleren.

Valentini played over 1,600 minutes for the Nighthawks’ back line while starting all 18 matches for NNU. In addition to his steady defense, he also added a goal and an assist.

Western Washington’s Albin Jonsson was selected as the GNAC Freshman of the Year after leading the Vikings and the conference in scoring with nine goals and five assists. He started all 18 of the matches that he appeared in for WWU, only missing one contest this season.

The forward from Skellefteå, Sweden is one of four unanimous First Team All-GNAC selections along with Western Washington teammate and sophomore forward Andrew Rotter, Montana State Billings junior forward Jeremie Briquet and Talisuna.

Rotter finished his first season in the GNAC as the second-highest scorer for the Vikings with four goals and five assists. His 13 points are tied for seventh in the conference. He started in all but one match for Western Washington.

Briquet was one of the top playmakers in the conference, tallying six assists to rank second in the conference and 47th in Division II. He also added four goals of his own to tie for fifth in the GNAC with 14 points.

Jonsson is joined by teammate Patrick Restum as a GNAC special award winner with the senior goalkeeper being selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. Restum leads the conference and ranks 34th in Division II with a 0.94 goals against average. He is also tied for the GNAC lead and ranks 43rd in Division II with eight shutouts with a .786 save percentage that ranks second in the GNAC.

Conference champion Northwest Nazarene features two of the conference special award winners in senior midfielder Nestor Serrano as the Newcomer of the Year and John Powell as the Coach of the Year. Serrano, a transfer from Arizona Christian, has been a high-minute player for the Nighthawks, racking up 1,454 minutes in the regular season and was also named Second Team All-GNAC.

Powell led NNU to its first GNAC championship in program history in just his second year at the helm, finishing the regular season with a 13-3-2 overall record (9-2-1 GNAC). The 13 wins are the most in NNU’s Division II history and marks just the fourth time since 2007 that the Nighthawks have secured 10 or more wins. With the GNAC title secured, Northwest Nazarene will appear in its first NCAA Division II Championships since 2014.

Northwest Nazarene senior midfielder Ethan Atteberry was also named to the first team. Atterberry appeared in all but one of NNU’s 18 regular season matches and started 17. He netted a pair of goals for the Nighthawks to go along with three assists.

A trio of Seattle Pacific defensive stalwarts rounds out the First Team All-GNAC selections. Junior defender Adian Thrall, sophomore defender Demian Alvarez and goalkeeper Helleren all earned all-conference honors as members of the third-ranked defense in the GNAC.

Helleren is tied for the conference lead with eight shutouts while Thrall and Alvarez both logged over 1,000 minutes on the back line for the Falcons. Demian is also tied for second on the team in scoring courtesy of his four goals this season in 17 starts. Thrall added offensive upside for SPU as well with a goal and an assist in 16 appearances and 15 starts.

Northwest Nazarene, Simon Fraser and Western Washington each had eight selections. with the Nighthawks garnering six selections across the first and second teams. Among the 22 first and second-team selections, seven different nations are represented including the United States, Canada, Uganda, Sweden, Germany, France and Lithuania.