2024 All-Big West Men's Soccer Team & Awards | Watch the video >>>
The Big West is proud to announce its 2024 all-conference teams and major award winners ahead of Wednesday's start to the 2024 Men's Soccer Championship. Student-athletes from all 10 institutions received recognition across the lists.
After capturing its first Big West regular-season title in program history, Cal Poly took home four of the six major awards. Junior Nicky McCune and sophomore Parker Owens are the Defensive Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively. Forward Quinn Mahoney earned top freshman honors, and second-year helmsman Oige Kennedy is The Big West Coach of the Year.
Kennedy and the Mustangs won the regular-season crown with a 4-1-4 conference record and went 7-4-7 in overall games. The Cal Poly defense, led by McCune and Owens, sported a goals-against average of 0.74, with nine shutouts on the year. The shielding was even better in league play, with a 0.44 opponents' scoring average with five clean sheets. McCune tallied 55 saves and Owens provided one goal and three assists from the back line during the regular season. Mahoney was the offensive catalyst for the Mustangs with four goals and five assists so far on the year.
Representing regular season runner-up UC Santa Barbara, Alexis Ledoux was selected as The Big West Offensive Player of the Year honor. The senior forward accumulated five assists and 14 goals for 33 points on the regular season, leading The Big West in the latter two categories. It is also Ledoux's second straight time being on the All-Big West First Team.
Cal State Fullerton's Erick Serrano earns The Big West Midfielder of the Year honor for the second year in a row. The senior propelled the Titans with five goals and six assists during the year.
Due to ties in the voting on multiple positions, 14 players earned All-Big West First Team accolades, instead of the customary 13. The Second Team is also made up of 14 players, instead of precedented 11.
Cal Poly sophomore midfielder Diego Guerra joined fellow Mustangs McCune and Owens on the First Team. Guerra posted three goals and one assist for Cal Poly during the regular season. Mahoney was a Second Team honoree.
Senior midfielder Mikkel Goeling joined Ledoux on the First Team, providing two assists for the UC Santa Barbara offense. It is the second year in a row that Goeling was placed on the First Team. Freshman defender Calle Mollerberg recorded a full 90-minute shift in 10 matches for a defense that boasted a goals-against average of 1.06 in the regular season.
UC Irvine got three First Team honorees in senior midfielder Mario Anaya, junior midfielder Agaton Pourshahidi and senior defender Mathias Winum, and one on the Second Team in sophomore defender Brady Treinen. Last season, Winum was a First Team honoree and Anaya was a Second Team selection. Pourshahidi is the Anteaters’ leading goal and point scorer with seven goals and two assists, and Anaya provided two assists for UC Irvine during the year. Winum and Treinen were part of a back line that sported a goals-against average of 0.89 in conference games. Winum played a full 90 minutes in 15 of the team’s 17 overall games this season, while Treinen did the same in 14 games. Treinen also provided four assists during the regular season.
With nine goals and two assists during the year, UC Davis junior forward Cason Goodman was picked as a First Team selection. Goodman was a Second Team honoree a year ago. Junior midfielder Lucas Fernandez-Kim and junior defender Zack Lillington provided one goal and four assists apiece during the regular season.
Cal State Bakersfield placed five players on the All-Big West teams with sophomore defender Luka Geishauser, senior forward Connor Mautino and sophomore defender Sinan Solmaz on the First Team, and junior goalkeeper Zenden Hart and sophomore midfielder Adrian Jogerst on the Second Team. Mautino, a Second Team member a year ago, scored 11 times during the regular season, with a league-best eight goals in conference play. Jogerst pitched in three goals for the Roadrunners. Solmaz, Geishauser and Hart were part of a Roadrunner defense that only allowed an average of one goal a game during the regular season.
Serrano represented Cal State Fullerton on the All-Big West First Team. Fellow Titan senior forward Roberto Ordonez was a Second Team selection posting seven goals and seven assists during the regular season.
Senior forward Luka Lukic and senior defender AJ Meade-Tatum represent UC Riverside on the Second Team. Lukic posted five goals and four assists on the season, while Meade-Tatum was a stalwart in the back line, playing a full 90 minutes in 12 games.
Sacramento State sophomore forward Donovan Sessoms was picked as a First Team honoree after putting away a conference third-best 10 goals on the season, seven of those coming in league play.
With five goals and three assists on the season, UC San Diego senior forward Max Carvalho was selected as a Second Team member for the second consecutive year.
CSUN placed three on the second team in senior midfielder Marley Edwards (3g, 2a), junior defender Deryk Jones, Jr. (4g, 2a), and sophomore midfielder Jorge Solorzano (3g, 1a).
The All-Big West Honorable Mention consists of Nico Baltazar (Cal Poly), Filip Basili (UC Santa Barbara), Gio Ceja (Sacramento State), Jose de la Torre (Cal State Fullerton), Misael Gonzalez (UC Irvine), Bryson Hankins (Cal State Bakersfield), David Mitzner (UC Santa Barbara), Joey Velasquez (Cal State Bakersfield), Caden Vom Steeg (UC Santa Barbara), Keegan Walwyn-Bent (UC Davis) and Nicolas Willumsen (UC Santa Barbara).
The All-Freshman team features Mahoney, Mollerberg, Sean Battistessa (Sacramento State), Julian Borja (Cal State Fullerton), Peleg Brown (UC Santa Barbara), Jose de la Torre (Cal State Fullerton), Carson Hammond (UC Davis), Marcus Lee (UC Irvine), Kai Oppenheim (UC San Diego), Quinn Sellers (UC San Diego) and Oscar Emilio Trujillo Lizarraga (UC Riverside).
The Big West Men's Soccer Championship begins Wednesday with a pair of first-round tilts at higher-seeded campus sites. Fifth-seeded Cal State Bakersfield plays at No. 4 seed UC Davis at 1 p.m. and sixth-seeded Cal State Fullerton is at No. 3 seed UC Irvine at 6 p.m.
No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara hosts the winner of the Cal State Fullerton-UC Irvine matchup on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. and regular-season champion and top seed Cal Poly welcomes the victors of the Cal State Bakersfield-UC Davis game on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. The championship match will be held at the remaining highest seed on Friday, Nov. 15.
| The Big West 2024 Men's Soccer All-Conference Team |
| Offensive Player of the Year: Alexis Ledoux, UC Santa Barbara |
| Midfielder of the Year: Erick Serrano, Cal State Fullerton |
| Defensive Player of the Year: Parker Owens, Cal Poly |
| Goalkeeper of the Year: Nicky McCune, Cal Poly |
| Freshman of the Year: Quinn Mahoney, Cal Poly |
| Coach of the Year: Oige Kennedy, Cal Poly |
| All-Big West First Team |
|
|
| Student-Athlete |
Year |
Position |
Institution |
Hometown |
| Mario Anaya |
Sr. |
M |
UC Irvine |
Livermore, Calif. |
| Luka Geishauser |
So. |
D |
Cal State Bakersfield |
Dusseldorf, Germany |
| Cason Goodman |
Jr. |
F |
UC Davis |
Santa Barbara, Calif. |
| Mikkel Goeling |
Sr. |
M |
UC Santa Barbara |
Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Diego Guerra |
So. |
M |
Cal Poly |
Fresno, Calif. |
| Alexis Ledoux |
Sr. |
F |
UC Santa Barbara |
La Talaudiere, France |
| Connor Mautino |
Sr. |
F |
Cal State Bakersfield |
Lake Forest, Calif. |
| Nicky McCune |
Jr. |
GK |
Cal Poly |
San Ramon, Calif. |
| Parker Owens |
So. |
D |
Cal Poly |
Southlake, Texas |
| Agaton Pourshahidi |
Jr. |
M |
UC Irvine |
Stockholm, Sweden |
| Erick Serrano |
Sr. |
M |
Cal State Fullerton |
Mecca, Calif. |
| Donovan Sessoms |
So. |
F |
Sacramento State |
Antelope, Calif. |
| Sinan Solmaz |
So. |
D |
Cal State Bakersfield |
Bergisch Gladbach, Germany |
| Mathias Winum |
Sr. |
D |
UC Irvine |
Trondheim, Norway |
| All-Big West Second Team |
|
|
| Student-Athlete |
Year |
Position |
Institution |
Hometown |
| Max Carvalho |
Sr. |
F |
UC San Diego |
Aliso Viejo, Calif. |
| Marley Edwards |
Sr. |
M |
CSUN |
Chilliwack, Canada |
| Lucas Fernandez-Kim |
Jr. |
M |
UC Davis |
Berkeley, Calif. |
| Zenden Hart |
Jr. |
GK |
Cal State Bakersfield |
Central Coast, Australia |
| Adrian Jogerst |
So. |
M |
Cal State Bakersfield |
Freiburg, Germany |
| Deryk Jones, Jr. |
Jr. |
D |
CSUN |
Slidell, La. |
| Zack Lillington |
Jr. |
D |
UC Davis |
Fairfax, Calif. |
| Luka Lukic |
Sr. |
F |
UC Riverside |
Belgrade, Serbia |
| Quinn Mahoney |
Fr. |
F |
Cal Poly |
Sacramento, Calif. |
| AJ Meade-Tatum |
Sr. |
D |
UC Riverside |
Palos Verdeso, Calif. |
| Calle Mollerberg |
Fr. |
D |
UC Santa Barbara |
Stockholm, Sweden |
| Roberto Ordonez |
Sr. |
F |
Cal State Fullerton |
McAllen, Texas |
| Jorge Solorzano |
So. |
M |
CSUN |
Palmdale, Calif. |
| Brady Treinen |
So. |
D |
UC Irvine |
Tustin, Calif. |
| Honorable Mention: F - Misael Gonzalez (Jr., UC Irvine), Keegan Walwyn-Bent (Sr., UC Davis), Nicolas Willumsen (Jr., UC Santa Barbara); M - Filip Basili (Sr., UC Santa Barbara), Gio Ceja (So., Sacramento State), Jose de la Torre (Fr., Cal State Fullerton), Joey Velasquez (So., Cal State Bakersfield); D - Nico Baltazar (Jr., Cal Poly), Bryson Hankins (Sr., Cal State Bakersfield), Caden Vom Steeg (Sr., UC Santa Barbara); GK - David Mitzner (Sr., UC Santa Barbara); |
| All-Freshman Team |
|
|
| Sean Battistessa (D, Sacramento State), Julian Borja (D, Cal State Fullerton), Peleg Brown (D, UC Santa Barbara), Jose de la Torre (M, Cal State Fullerton), Carson Hammond (D, UC Davis), Marcus Lee (M, UC Irvine), Quinn Mahoney (Fr., Cal Poly), Calle Mollerberg (D, UC Santa Barbara), Kai Oppenheim (F, UC San Diego), Quinn Sellers (M, UC San Diego), Oscar Emilio Trujillo Lizarraga (D, UC Riverside); |