Friday, December 12, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – Five GNAC men’s soccer players were named All-Americans by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America on Friday.

Three players from Seattle Pacific were honored and Julio Castillo of Northwest Nazarene was named to the first team.

Castillo becomes the first athlete in NNU’s history to be named a first team All-American in the NCAA. He led the Crusaders in assists and helped the team reach its first NCAA ranking, NCAA tournament and earn its first tournament win.

Seattle Pacific defender Davis Karaica, who also made the Daktronics All-American third team, was selected to the second team. Fellow Falcon defender Bryson Pavel and forward Stephen MacDonald were named to the third team.

The Falcons won the GNAC championship in 2014 and earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Region. SPU reached the West Region finals before losing to the No. 3 seed Cal State Los Angeles.

Simon Fraser’s Jovan Blagojevic was selected for the NSCAA third team. Blagojevic, who was the Daktronics West Region Player of the Year and second team All-American, finished the year seventh nationally in goals with 18.

All five players on the NSCAA All-American teams were also named to its All-West Region first team last week.

Joining the five on the West Region first team was Clan midfielder Alex Kleefeldt who was third on the team in goals scored and minutes played.

Northwest Nazarene had four players on the second team including forwards Erik Anderson and Fredy Razo, defender Yannick Petzschke and goalie Alfredo E. Ontiveros. Crusader coach Coe Michaelson was also named the NSCAA West Region Coach of the Year.

SPU’s Danny Olivas was also named to the second team and Falcon goalkeeper Cody Lang was placed on the third team.

The University of Mary’s Jonathan Sellars was also placed on the third team after leading the Marauders in playing time.
 

ALL-AMERICAN

NSCAA: First Team – Julio Castillo, Northwest Nazarene (M, 5-7, Jr., Wilmington, CA – Chula Vista). Second Team -  Davis Karaica, Seattle Pacific (D, 6-1, So., Snoqualmie, WA – Mount Si). Third Team - Jovan Blagojevic, Simon Fraser (F, 6-0, Sr., Coquitlam, BC - Centennial); Stephen MacDonald, Seattle Pacific (F, 6-2, So., Phoenix, AZ – O’Connor); Bryson Pavel, Seattle Pacific (D, 6-0, Jr., Boise, ID - Boise).

DAKTRONICS: Second Team – Jovan Blagojevic, Simon Fraser (F, 6-0, Sr., Coquitlam, BC - Centennial); Third Team– Davis Karaica, Seattle Pacific (D, 6-1, So., Snoqualmie, WA – Mount Si).

WEST REGION

NSCAA: First Team - Julio Castillo, Northwest Nazarene (M, 5-7, Jr., Wilmington, CA – Chula Vista); Davis Karaica, Seattle Pacific (D, 6-1, So., Snoqualmie, WA – Mount Si); Stephen MacDonald, Seattle Pacific  (F, 6-2, So., Phoenix, AZ – O’Connor); Bryson Pavel, Seattle Pacific (D, 6-0, Jr., Boise, ID - Boise); Jovan Blagojevic, Simon Fraser (F, 6-0, Sr., Coquitlam, BC - Centennial); Alex Kleefeldt, Simon Fraser (D, 6-3, Sr., Frankfurt, Germany – Albert Einstein Gymnasium). Second Team – Erik Anderson, Northwest Nazarene (F, 5-8, Jr., Boise, ID – Boise); Alfredo E. Ontiveros, Northwest Nazarene (GK, 6-2, Sr., La Puente, CA – Arroyo); Yannick Petzschke, Northwest Nazarene (D, 6-3, Fr., Hamburg, Germany – Goethe Schule Harburg); Freddy Razo, Northwest Nazarene (F, 5-10, Sr., Irvine, CA – El Toro); Danny Olivas, Seattle Pacific (M, 6-1, Jr., Phoenix, AZ – O’Connor). Third Team – Jonathan Sellars, Mary (M, 6-1, Jr., York, England – York College); Cody Lang, Seattle Pacific (GK, 6-4, So., Spokane, WA – Lewis & Clark).

DAKTRONICS: First team – *Jovan Blagojevic, Simon Fraser (F, 6-0, Sr., Coquitlam, BC - Centennial); Davis Karaica, Seattle Pacific (D, 6-1, So., Snoqualmie, WA – Mount Si); Stephen MacDonald, Seattle Pacific (F, 6-2, So., Phoenix, AZ – O’Connor); Freddy Razo, Northwest Nazarene (F, 5-10, Sr., Irvine, CA – El Toro); Julio Castillo, Northwest Nazarene (M, 5-7, Jr., Wilmington, CA – Chula Vista). Second Team – Cody Lang, Seattle Pacific (GK, 6-4, So., Spokane, WA – Lewis & Clark); Yannick Petzschke, Northwest Nazarene (D, 6-3, Fr., Hamburg, Germany – Goethe Schule Harburg). *West-Region Player of the Year