Friday, November 12, 2021
PORTLAND, Ore. – Five GNAC men’s soccer players were honored with selection to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Team, which accounts for a combination of academic and on-field success, including Seattle Pacific’s Travis Swallow, who was named to the team for the third straight season. Earning their first Academic All-District nods were Montana State Billings forward Halil Yilmaz, Northwest Nazarene defender Lorenzo Valentini, Seattle Pacific midfielder Tyler Speer and Simon Fraser goalkeeper Aidan Bain.
Yilmaz, a senior, has a 3.66 GPA as a business management major. He has taken the league by storm offensively, ranking second in the GNAC in goals (11), points (23) and shots (51). Yilmaz has two hat tricks on the year, including in the season-opener against Texas A&M International.
Valentini, a graduate student from Saarbrucken, Germany, has achieved a 3.96 GPA completing a recreation and sport management undergraduate degree and pursuing a master’s of business administration. He has been a leader at center back for the Nighthawks, leading the team in minutes played while contributing a goal and an assist.
Swallow returns to the Academic All-District Team by virtue of posting a 3.94 GPA in the classroom as a senior business administration student while tallying five goals and two assists on the field for 12 points, which ranks tied for sixth in the GNAC. Swallow has doubled his career goal total, which stood at five prior to this year.
Speer makes it two Seattle Pacific Falcons on the team, while also contributing District’s 8 only 4.00 GPA as a junior biochemistry major. On the field, Speer has scored once and ranks second in the GNAC with five assists.
Bain earned selection with a 3.62 GPA as a senior business administration major. Bain leads the conference in shutouts (seven) and ranks third in goals against average (1.12) and fourth in saves (50).
The Academic All-District 8 Team is comprised of one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards from a pool of GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and Pacific West conference nominees. The CCAA and PacWest landed three players each on this year’s roster.
The Academic All-District teams are nominated and voted upon by members of CoSIDA and recognize student-athletes of sophomore standing or better who are starters or significant reserves for their teams with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 or better. The players selected will be put up for consideration for the Academic All-American Team.