Blue Star players thrive in NCAA Tourney

Many Orange County Blue Star players have earned high accolades coming off the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer College Season.?

By far, the highest achievement came from North Carolina players Jordan Gafa and freshman midfielder Mikey Lopez, who helped the team win the National Championship. Gafa made a crucial save in the last five minutes of the final game, backing up his keeper, heading a ball off the goal-line. Lopez also won MLSsoccer.com Freshman Player of the Year, and was named to the ACC All-Freshmen team.

Chandler Hoffman

Chandler Hoffman, a junior forward, had an incredible season, leading the PAC-12 with 18 goals and helping UCLA get to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. He was recently named to the PAC-12 Conference First Team, NCAA Division I All-Far West First Team, NCAA Division I All-America Third Team and the 2011 Men's College Cup All-Tournament Team. Hoffman was also a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist.?

His teammate, senior forward/midfielder Eder Arreola is another UCLA standout and earned a spot on the PAC-12 Conference First Team. Sophomore defender, Joe Sofia, earned PAC-12 Conference Honorable Mention, while OC Blue Star Alum Ryan Hollingshead made PAC-12 Conference Second Team and joined Hoffman on the College Cup All-Tournament Team. Hollingshead's goal in the 17th minute of the National Semifinal was also featured on ESPN's Top Ten Plays, as the number one play of the day. Blue Star players who also supported the UCLA Tournament run include Fernando Monge, Ryan Lee, Pat Matchett, Reed McKenna, and Oscar Reyes.

Joining Blue Star-UCLA players in PAC-12 honors, Steven Birnbaum, a junior defender for Cal, and Blue Star Alum and Stanford midfielder ?Garrett Gunther were both named to the PAC-12 Conference First Team. San Diego State sophomore forward Miles Byass was named to the PAC-12 Conference Second Team.

Also making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Semifinal was junior midfielder Jose Gomez and junior forward Dion Acoff of Creighton. The two players combined for seven goals and ten assists on the season.?

In Big West play, Luis Silva proved once again to be a standout player. The senior midfielder at UC Santa Barbara was named Big West Midfielder of the Year and also earned spots on the Big West Conference First Team, NCAA Division I All-Far West Team, and Men's NCAA Division I All-America First Team. Silva ended the season with 17 goals and 10 assists, helping his team get to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. He also joined Hoffman as a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist.

Another star player in the Big West was UC Irvine senior forward Miguel Ibarra. He earned Big West Co-Offensive Player of the Year honors and was also named to the Big West Conference First Team, NCAA Division I All-Far West First Team and Men's NCAA Division I All-America First Team. He had nine goals and eight assists on the season. UCI's junior defender Everett Pitts was also named to the Big West Conference First Team, along with Blue Star Alum and CSU Fullerton's senior midfielder Kevin Venegas, and Cal Poly's senior defender Pat Sigler. Sigler also earned NCAA Division I All-Far West Third Team honors.

Continuing to represent UC Irvine, senior midfielder/defender Jimmy Turner was named to the Big West Conference Second Team, joined by Cal Poly senior defenders Wes Feighner and Cam Walters, senior goalkeeper Pat McLain as well as Blue Star Alum and Fullerton senior midfielder Oscar Aguero.

In the West Coast Conference, USD's sophomore defender Elijah Galbraith-Knapp made the WCC First Team, LMU's senior forward/midfielder Phil Da Silva and senior defender Tyler Krumpe were both named to the WCC Second Team and Santa Clara junior Wes Culver earned WCC Honorable Mention.

Christian Ramirez had an impressive season as Concordia University's junior forward, finishing with 18 goals as he was recently named to the All-Golden State Athletics Conference Team.

After such a successful college season, next up is the 2012 MLS Player Combine. Blue Star players Sigler, Silva, Ibarra and Arreola have already been invited to participate in the week-long trial held January 6-10 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Source: http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/superelite-soccer/united-states-football-club-archives/nid-18938

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