Dec. 13, 2004

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara University men's soccer player Medhi Ballouchy was named to the NSCAA All-America Third Team on Sunday. The honor is the first national award of Ballouchy's career. He was named to the NSCAA All-Far West Region First Team earlier this year after earning a spot on the All-Midwest Region First Team as a freshman at Creighton.

In only his first year with the program, Ballouchy became one of the Bronco's main offensive weapons in 2004. Starting all but one match this season, he led Santa Clara to a 15-6-0 record and a berth in the NCAA Championship Tournament. The Casablanca, Morocco native paced the Broncos with 15 points on the season. He also was tops on the team and second in the conference with nine assists.

"Medhi is very deserving of this All-America honor" said head coach Cameron Rast. "It is not only a great credit to him as a player, but also to the quality of our program, which allows players to be creative in their play."

A member of the All-West Coast Conference First Team, Ballouchy earned a number of awards throughout the season, including WCC Player of the Month honors for September. 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. He was also honored with a spot on the College Soccer News and Soccer America Teams of the Week on September 6.

Ballouchy was one of only two players from the WCC to earn All-America honors, as Loyola Marymount's Matt Kovar joins Ballouchy on the third team.

NSCAA/adidas First Team

GK - Chris Sawyer (Notre Dame)
D - Ugo Ihemelu (SMU)
D - Drew Moor (Indiana)
D - Gonzalo Segares (VCU)
MF - Mike Enfield (UCLA)
MF - C.J. Klaas (Washington)
MF - Sacha Kljestan (Seton Hall)
MF - Danny O'Rouke (Indiana)
F - Justin Moose (Wake Forest)
F - Randi Patterson (UNC Greensboro)
F - Ryan Pore (Tulsa)
F - Jeff Rowland (New Mexico)

NSCAA/adidas Second Team

GK - Brad Guzan (South Carolina)
D - Jeff Larentowicz (Brown)
D - Tony Lochhead (UC Santa Barbara)
D - Matt Oliver (Virginia)
D - Michael Parkhurst (Wake Forest)
MF - Kevon Harris (Old Dominion)
MF - Scott Jones (UNC Greensboro)
MF - Guy Melamed (Boston College)
MF - Dayton O'Brien (Memphis)
F - Sasha Gotsmanov (Rhode Island)
F - Chris Rolfe (Dayton)
F - Edwin Ruiz (Hartwick)
F - Scott Sealy (Wake Forest)

NSCAA/adidas Third Team

GK - Jay Nolly (Indiana)
D - Kevin Coleman (La Salle)
D - Hunter Freeman (Virginia)
D - Matt Kovar (Loyola Marymount)
MF - Medhi Ballouchy (Santa Clara)
MF - Blake Camp (Duke)
MF - Troy Lesesne (College of Charleston)
MF - Jamal Sheteiwi (Kentucky)
F - Justin Cook (Ohio State)
F - Jason Garey (Maryland)
F - Drew McAthy (UC Santa Barbara)
F - Dominic Oduro (VCU)
F - Abe Thompson (Maryland)