ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – Cal Lutheran men's soccer players Daniel Aguilar, Brandon Kearney, Diego Ortega and Cristian Yepez were named to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCAIC) First Team, Charlie Villa-Lovos was named to the Second Team and Head Coach Dan Kuntz and his staff were named the Coaching Staff of the Year. The teams and individual awards were announced Tuesday following a vote conducted by the league's member head coaches.
Aguilar earned First Team All-SCIAC as a defender. This is the first All-SCIAC award for Aguilar, who has been with the team for two seasons. A senior from Oxnard, Calif., Aguilar has been a focal part of a defense that has eight shutouts on the year. He has started 16 of the 17 games for the Kingsmen on the back line and has helped lead the team to an undefeated record at home. Aguilar has also added two goals and one assist.
Kearney was named First Team All-SCIAC for the second time. His first time was as a sophomore and he was named Second Team as a junior. The Concord, Calif., native plays forward for the Kingsmen. Kearney has scored six goals on the year and added four assists. He leads the squad with five game winning goals. He has started 15 of the 17 games for the Kingsmen.
A senior midfielder, Ortega garnered his first All-SCIAC award as he was named to the First Team. Originally from Camarillo, Calif., Ortega is a Swiss army knife for the Kingsmen and has also played defense and forward. Offensively, he leads the team with nine goals and has added two assists for 20 points. He has one game winning goal on the year which occurred against La Verne on Sept. 30.
Yepez earned First Team All-SCIAC honors for the first time in his career. The junior from Oxnard, Calif., was also named Third Team All-West Region last year. Yepez is part of the one-two punch on the defense with Aguilar. He has been instrumental in the team's success on the defensive end. Yepez has been a big part of eight shutouts and helped the team go undefeated at home with a 7-0-1 record.
Villa-Lovos earned his first season award as he represents Cal Lutheran on the Second Team. He has started all 17 games at the midfield position for the Kingsmen. A junior from Westlake Village, Calif., Villa-Lovos was also a helping hand and a playmaker when it came to the offense and defense. He has helped the defense become one of the top in the SCIAC. Offensively, he has scored one goal.
Kuntz received the 2017 SCIAC Coach of the Year honors. He earned the award after guiding the Kingsmen to an overall record of 11-4-2, including a 9-3-2 ledger in conference play. Under Kuntz's direction, Cal Lutheran posted seven shutout victories against league rivals, went undefeated at home in SCIAC play and earned the second seed in the conference tournament after going unbeaten in five of the last six matches to conclude the regular season.
The SCIAC Athlete of the Year went to Redlands' Casey ChubbFertal, Caltech's goalkeeper Joe Como received Newcomer of the Year honors and Peter Rentzepis of Pomona-Pitzer was honored with the SCIAC Award of Distinction.
The Kingsmen begin their playoff push Wednesday night as Cal Lutheran hosts Chapman at 7 p.m. inside William Rolland Stadium.
Release: 2017 All-SCIAC
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director