IRVINE, Calif. (Nov. 12, 2021) -- The All-Big West men's soccer teams and major award winners have been announced, a day in advance of the title game of The Big West 2021 Men's Soccer Championship in Santa Barbara.
 
UC Davis sophomore Maximilian Arfsten will be crowned as The Big West Offensive Player of the Year. Arfsten led the league in shots (56), shots on goal (29), goals (8), game-winning goals (4), assists (7) and points (23). His four game-winning goals rank him 16th in the nation in that category. In conference play, UC Davis had the third-best offense with 15 goals, an average of 1.667 per game. Arfsten was named The Big West Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 27 earlier this year and was an All-Freshman Team member in 2019. He is the second Aggie to win Offensive Player of the Year, the first and only other time coming in 2008 with Quincy Amarikwa.
 
The Big West Midfielder of the Year will go to UC Davis senior Robert Mejia. Like Arfsten, Mejia ranked in the top 10 in the conference in several offensive categories. He was second in shots (51), third in shots on goal (21), tied for seventh in goals (5) and tied for second in assists (6). Mejia helped the Aggies score 15 goals in conference play, the third most in The Big West. He was an All-Freshman Team member in 2018. Mejia is the second Aggie to win Midfielder of the Year. The first was in 2008 when Dylan Curtis won the same honor.
 
UC Santa Barbara junior Henry Davies will receive The Big West Defensive Player of the Year award. Thanks to his efforts, the Gaucho defense compiled seven shutouts and allowed 18 goals overall this season, an average of 0.95 per game. In conference play, the Gauchos allowed only eight goals, an average of 0.89 per game. UCSB won a share of the regular season title with a 6-1-2 record in conference play. Davies also has one goal and one assist on the season. It is the 11th time (2001, 2004-07, 2009-11, 2014, 2019) a Gaucho has won the top defensive honor, the most in The Big West.  
 
The accolade of Goalkeeper of the Year will go to UC Irvine graduate student Gordon Botterill, as he led the conference in goals-against average (.709) and save percentage (.847). In the nation, those numbers rank him third in save percentage and 10th in goals-against average. In league play, Botterill anchored the Anteater defense that only allowed six goals, an average of 0.69 per game, en route to a share of The Big West regular season title with a 6-1-2 record. He was named The Big West Goalkeeper of the Week three times throughout the year. It is the third time an Anteater has won Goalkeeper of the Year, the last coming in 2011 when Andrew Fontein won the same award.
 
UC Irvine's Francesco Montanile is The Big West Freshman of the Year. His two goals and two assists for six points came all in conference play and led the Anteaters to a share of the regular season title with a 6-1-2 record. The Anteaters scored 17 goals in league play, the second most in the conference. It is the second time an Anteater has won Freshman of the Year, the last coming in 2008 when Andrew Fontein won the same award.
 
By leading the Anteaters to a share of the regular season title with a 6-1-2 record in conference play and 8-7-4 overall, UC Irvine head coach Yossi Raz earns his second Big West Coach of the Year honors, the last one coming in 2018. The fifth-year head coach helped UC Irvine to the second-best offense in conference play with 17 goals scored and the second-best defense with six goals conceded.
 

The Big West 2021 All-Conference Team
Offensive Player of the Year			Maximilian Arfsten, UC Davis
Midfielder of the Year			Robert Mejia, UC Davis
Defensive Player of the Year			Henry Davies, UC Santa Barbara
Goalkeeper of the Year			Gordon Botterill, UC Irvine
Freshman of the Year			Francesco Montanile, UC Irvine
Coach of the Year			Yossi Raz, UC Irvine
All-Big West First Team
Name	Yr.	Pos.	School	Hometown
Giovanni Aguilar	Gr.	M	CSUN	Olivehurst, Calif.
Maximilian Arfsten	So.	F	UC Davis	Fresno, Calif.
Thaabit Baartman	Jr.	M	UC Santa Barbara	Bonteheuwel, South Africa
Finn Ballard McBride	So.	F	UC Santa Barbara	Sydney, Australia
Gordon Botterill	Gr.	GK	UC Irvine	Luzern, Switzerland
Ashish Chattha	Jr.	M	UC Irvine	Fremont, Calif.
Henry Davies	Jr.	D	UC Santa Barbara	Springwood, Australia
William Gillingham	Sr.	D	UC Santa Barbara	Auckland, New Zealand
Jake Haupt	Sr.	D	UC Davis	San Diego, Calif.
Robert Mejia	Sr.	M	UC Davis	Denair, Calif.
Ameyawu Muntari	Sr.	F	UC Santa Barbara	Accra, Ghana
Freymar Omarsson	Jr.	D	UC Riverside	Garðabær, Iceland
Oscar Penate	Jr.	F	UC Riverside	Watts, Calif.
All-Big West Second Team
Name	Yr.	Pos.	School	Hometown
Salvador Aguilar	Fr.	F	UC Santa Barbara	San Simeon, Calif.
Carlos Arce-Hurtado	Sr.	GK	Cal Poly	Tijuana, Mexico
Carlos Armendariz	Jr.	M	CSU Bakersfield	San Francisco, Calif.
Neil Boyal	Sr.	M	Cal Poly	Olympia, Wash.
Sam Fletcher	Jr.	M	UC Santa Barbara	Phoenix, Ariz.
Andrew Forth	Sr.	D	Cal Poly	Lake Mary, Fla.
Max Glasser	Jr.	D	UC Davis	Novato, Calif.
Leopoldo Hernandez	Jr.	M	UC Riverside	Sacramento, Calif.
Francesco Montanile	Fr.	F	UC Irvine	Phoenix, Ariz.
Emmanuel Perez	Sr.	F	Cal Poly	Boynton Beach, Fla.
Mathias Winum	Fr.	D	UC Irvine	Trondheim, Norway
Leroy Zeller	So.	GK	UC Santa Barbara	Zülpich, Germany
Honorable Mention
F-Grant Fidler (Sr., UC Davis), Aodhan O'Hara (Sr., CSU Bakersfield), Titus Washington (So., Sacramento State); M-Beto Alvarenga (Jr., UC Irvine), Sebastian Cruz (So., Cal State Fullerton), Andy Velasquez (Sr., UC Davis); D-Josh Graham (Sr., Cal Poly), Ricardo Ibarra (So., UC Irvine), Jaime Robles (So., Sacramento State), Jonick Pineda (Sr., UC Riverside)
All-Freshman Team
Salvador Aguilar (UC Santa Barbara), Max Carvalho (UC San Diego), Jacob Glass (Cal Poly), Carlos Gonzalez (UC Riverside), Bryson Hankins (CSU Bakersfield), Turner Humphrey (UC Davis), Ramses Martinez (UC Santa Barbara), Francesco Montanile (UC Irvine), Jamar Ricketts (CSUN), Jhared Willcot (Sacramento State), Mathias Winum (UC Irvine)