Dec. 6, 2004

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara University men's soccer player Medhi Ballouchy was named to the NSCAA Far West Region First Team on Friday. The honor is the second all-region selection for Ballouchy who earned All-Midwest Region honors in 2002 while at Creighton.

"Medhi is very deserving of this award," said head coach Cameron Rast. "I think it is a great credit to him as a player and to the quality of our program, which allows players to be creative in their play."

The Casablanca, Morocco native led the Broncos to a 15-6-0 record and a berth in the NCAA Championship Tournament in 2004. The West Coast Conference's Player of the Month for September, Ballouchy paced the Broncos with 15 points on the season. He also was tops on the team and second in the conference with nine assists.

Ballouchy earned a number of awards throughout the season, including First Team All-WCC recognition. The sophomore midfielder was also named MVP of the diadora and GMU/Comfort Inn Classics, while also earning a spot on the Santa Clara/adidas Classic All-Classic team.

Ballouchy was one of only two players from the WCC to be named to the first team, along with Loyola Marymount's Matt Kovar. Three WCC players picked up second team honors, while six were named to the third team.

NSCAA Far West First Team

GK - Dan Kennedy (UC Santa Barbara)
D - Matt Kovar (Loyola Marymount)
D - Tony Lochhead (UC Santa Barbara)
D - Aaron Lopez (UCLA)
MF - Medhi Ballouchy (Santa Clara University)
MF - Mike Enfield (UCLA)
MF - CJ Klauss (Washington)
MF - Lance Watson (New Mexico)
F - Drew McAthy (UC Santa Barbara)
F - Jeff Rowland (New Mexico)
F - Willie Sims (Cal State Northridge)

NSCAA Far West Second Team

GK - Andrew Weber (New Mexico)
D - Andrew Boyens (New Mexico)
D - Liam Girard (New Mexico)
D - Noah Merl (California)
D - Troy Roberts (California)
MF - Kyle Christensen (Denver)
MF - Ryan Guy (San Diego)
MF - Heath Pearce (Portland)
F - Aaron Chandler (San Francisco)
F - Darren Fernandez (Stanford)
F - Marcus Sagastume (Air Force Academy)

NSCAA Far West Third Team

GK - Luis Robles (Portland)
D - Josh Brown (Portland)
D - Ty Harden (Washington)
D - Chris Schwarze (San Francisco)
MF - Boomer Arbelaez (UNLV)
MF - Brandon Moss (New Mexico)
MF - Alejandro Salazar (Portland)
MF - Kevin Wilson (San Diego)
F - Bobby Burling (Loyola Marymount)
F - Robert Findley (Oregon State)
F - Luc Harrington (UC Riverside)