Wednesday, December 8, 2021
PORTLAND, Ore. – After taking the GNAC by storm with his prolific offensive output, Seattle Pacific forward Alex Mejia was recognized as a First-Team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches. He also earned a Third-Team All-American selection from the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA).
Mejia was also one of eight GNAC players selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region teams, which were announced on Tuesday. Four of Mejia’s SPU teammates – Lars Helleren, Nik Reierson, Travis Swallow and Alden Massey – were selected to the second team, while a trio of players – Western Washington’s Drew Farnsworth, MSUB’s Halil Yilmaz and Northwest Nazarene’s Lorenzo Valentini – earned spots on the third team.
Mejia led the GNAC and ranked 10th in Division II with 14 goals and was the main offensive catalyst for an SPU team that claimed the GNAC championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The senior from Seattle placed opposing nets under siege, ranking 11th in Division II with four shots per game and third in Division II with 2.44 shots on goal per game. He put 61 percent of his total shots on target, a rate that ranked 12th in Division II. He also added two assists for a GNAC-leading 30 points and was named the conference’s Player of the Year.
Helleren was selected as the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year as a goalkeeper, leading SPU to a 1.04 goals against average. Helleren made 66 total saves and tallied six shutouts. Reierson was a key fixture in that Falcons defensive line that led the GNAC in all major defensive categories, while also contributing two goals and four assists offensively. He was one of three players to win multiple GNAC Player of the Week awards this season.
Although Mejia carried the lion’s share of the load offensively for SPU, Swallow and Massey did quite a bit to pick up the slack. Swallow started all but one match and notched five goals and two assists while Massey managed to tally six goals and three assists in just 13 matches.
Farnsworth, a senior midfielder for Western Washington, led the Vikings to a third-place finish in the GNAC by scoring seven goals and three assists, including two game-winners, while tying for third in the GNAC with 49 shots.
Yilmaz had an excellent offensive season for Montana State Billings, finishing second in the GNAC in goals (11) and shots (51) behind Mejia. The junior forward from Germany ranked 20th in Division II with 3.75 shots per game and 25th with 0.69 goals per game.
Valentini was a fixture at center back for Northwest Nazarene, only leaving the pitch for seven minutes of game time all season. He was the only player selected as GNAC First-Team All-Conference that also made the first team in 2019. Valentini had a goal and an assist offensively and committed only 17 fouls in 1,449 minutes.
Mejia, Reierson, Farnsworth and Yilmaz were also named to the D2CCA All-West Region team on November 23, with Yilmaz named to the second team and the other three selected as first-teamers.