SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Santa Clara's Erik Hurtado was named the 2012 West Coast Conference Player of the Year on Tuesday, and senior classmate Larry Jackson was named the 2012 WCC Goalkeeper of the Year.
The two final-year players were among eight Broncos honored by the WCC, including junior defender Mark Daus (Plano, Tex.) who joined Hurtado (Beaverton, Ore.) and Jackson (East Palo Alto, Calif.) on the All-WCC First Team.
Hurtado led the West Coast Conference with 2.08 points per game, 0.83 goals, 0.42 assists per match and five total game-winning goals in conference play. He consistently ranked among the NCAA's top-10 in scoring this season. Hurtado is the first Bronco since Peter Lowry in 2007 to be voted Player of the Year. He is also the sixth SCU men's soccer player to win the award (Hurtado '12, Lowry '07, Mehdi Ballouchy '05, Jeff Stewart '01, Paul Holocher '90 and Jeff Baicher '89).
In the second year that the award has been handed out, Jackson took Goalkeeper of the Year honors. In conference play, Jackson led the WCC with a 0.70 goals against average and six shutouts.
"The selection of Erik as Player of the Year and Larry as Goalkeeper of the Year are representative of two great players having remarkable conference performances," said Santa Clara head coach Cameron Rast. "In making a run at the WCC Championship, you have to have players who can make the difference in big games. They both did. When you add Mark Daus' consistency to the equation and a host of talented teammates, these guys did a great job for us this year."
Hurtado will go down in the record books as one of the most accomplished goal scorers in Santa Clara history. He finishes an outstanding collegiate career ranked No. 3 all-time at SCU in goals (33) and career points (86). He also comes in at No. 9 all-time at SCU in assists (20). Hurtado - who helped the Broncos win the 2010 WCC Championship - enjoyed his best collegiate season this fall, ranking among the NCAA's top 5 in goals and top 10 in virtually every offensive category.
"This was my last year with the team and I wanted to give it everything I had," said Hurtado on Tuesday. "It's great to be recognized for all the hard work, but I would much rather have a championship and this team on the road, headed for the playoffs."
Jackson, who has already played with the U-17 and U-20 US National Teams, now has earned All-WCC honors in each of his three years in goal for SCU. Making his three all-league seasons even more impressive, is the fact that the 2012 campaign was Jackson's first playing more than 14 games as the Broncos' primary keeper. He went 11-5-1 with seven shutouts and 60 saves with a 0.85 GAA this fall.
"I can't get to high on (the award)," said Jackson. "The stats were good, I had more shutouts than I've had, but I would pass on it to have one more ball bounce our way and end up in the (NCAA) tournament. We played so many tight games; it's tough not to advance."
2012 West Coast Conference Player of the Year
Erik Hurtado, Sr., F, Santa Clara
2012 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Trevor Newquist, Sr., Saint Mary's
2012 West Coast Conference Goalkeeper of the Year
Larry Jackson, Sr., Santa Clara
2012 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year
Pedro Velazquez, F, Loyola Marymount
2012 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year
Seamus McFadden, San Diego
2012 ALL-‐WEST COAST CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
Player School Yr. Pos.
Jose Cabeza Saint Maryʼs Sr. M
James Cohn San Diego Sr. M
Mark Daus Santa Clara Jr. D/M
Dan Delgado San Diego Sr. M
Mauricio Diaz De Leon San Francisco Jr. M
Steven Evans Portland Jr. M
Nick Hamer Gonzaga Jr. M
Erik Hurtado Santa Clara Sr. F
Larry Jackson Santa Clara Sr. GK
Trevor Newquist Saint Maryʼs Sr. D
Patrick Wallen San Diego Sr. F
2012 ALL-‐WEST COAST CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
Player School Yr. Pos.
Miguel Aguilar San Francisco So. F
Derek Boggs Portland So. M
Mitch Boland Loyola Marymount RS-Sr. D
Ricardo Carrillo Portland Sr. F
Christian Duke San Diego Sr. M
Elijah Galbraith-Knapp San Diego Jr. M
Liam Kelly San Francisco Jr. F
Lars Ludwigs Gonzaga RS-So. M
Julian Ringhof San Diego RS-Jr. D
Brendan Roslund San Francisco Sr. GK
Pedro Velazquez Loyola Marymount Fr. F
Honorable Mention: Tariq Adam (Saint Maryʼs); Nathan Arambula (Saint Maryʼs);
Bryce Bacic (Loyola Marymount); Paul Blanchette (Loyola Marymount);
Murphy Campbell (Santa Clara); Greg Carter (Gonzaga); Matthew Chavez (San Diego);
Matt Escobar (Santa Clara); Michael Escobar (Portland); Kevin Gould (San Francisco);
Keith Grubisich (Portland); Drew Ilejevski (San Diego); Ryan Masch (Santa Clara);
James Matern (Gonzaga); Conor McFadden (San Diego); John McFarlin (Loyola
Marymount); Carlos Montes (Santa Clara); Craig Nitti (Loyola Marymount); Clark
Phillips (Gonzaga); Andre Rawls (Saint Maryʼs); David Romney (San Francisco);
Sean Sears (Loyola Marymount); Joshua Smith (San Francisco); Forrest Solis (Saint
Maryʼs); Jaime Velasco (Portland)
2012 ALL-‐WEST COAST CONFERENCE FRESHMAN TEAM
Player School Pos.
Conner Bevans Gonzaga F
Paul Blanchette Loyola Marymount GK
Torrey DeArmas San Diego M
Kevin Gould San Francisco D
Ryan Masch Santa Clara F
Max Ornstil Santa Clara M
Hugo Rhoads Portland M
Joshua Smith San Francisco D/M
Forrest Solis Saint Maryʼs D
Jaime Velazco Portland M/F
Pedro Velazquez Loyola Marymount F
| 2012 WCC Men's Soccer Final Regular Season Standings |
|||
| Team | WCC | PTS | Overall |
| San Diego$ | 9-3-0 | 27 | 11-8-0 |
| Santa Clara* | 8-2-2 | 26 | 11-6-2 |
| Saint Mary's | 5-4-3 | 18 | 9-5-5 |
| Portland | 5-5-2 | 17 | 7-9-3 |
| San Francisco | 4-5-3 | 15 | 6-7-5 |
| Loyola Marymount | 4-5-3 | 15 | 6-10-3 |
| Gonzaga | 0-11-1 | 1 | 4-14-1 |
$ NCAA Tournament (WCC's automatic qualifier)
* Santa Clara finishes one-point short of first place for the second straight season