Pirates, Dons Highlight All-Orange Empire Conference Honors
Orange Empire Conference champion Orange Coast College and runner-up Santa Ana dominated the selections for this year’s All-Orange Empire Conference teams, as chosen by conference’s head coaches at last week’s postseason meeting.
Orange Empire Conference champion Orange Coast College and runner-up Santa Ana dominated the selections for this year's All-Orange Empire Conference teams, as chosen by conference's head coaches at last week's postseason meeting.
For the Pirates, head coach Kevin Smith was selected as the conference's Coach of the Year and eight members of his squad earned spots on this year's first and second teams.
OCC goalkeeper Nathan Brown and Santa Ana's Leonardo Contreras were named Co-Most Valuable Players for the OEC. Brown, a 6-foot-5 freshman out of Foothill High School, posted an impressive 8-0-3 record during conference play for the Pirates. In 970 minutes of OEC play, Brown allowed just six goals (a 0.56 goals-against average) and a .913 save percentage with six shutouts. For the season, Brown allowed just 10 goals (0.78 GAA) in 1,150 minutes of action.
Contreras, a 5-11 freshman forward out of Santa Ana HS, notched six goals and a team-best 12 assists for the Dons in 2013. He was the offensive playmaker throughout the season and picked up the majority of his assists by feeding passes to the OEC's leading scorer, Luis Venegas (24 goals, six assists).
Venegas earned first-team, All-OEC honors, along with SAC teammates, sophomore midfielder Uriel Rebollar and sophomore defender Antonio Solis.
As for Brown's OCC Pirates, four of his teammates – freshman defenders Josh Madrid and Blake Mooney, along with sophomore forwards Jorge Sanchez and Thales Serra, earned first-team honors as well. Madrid and Mooney helped anchor an OCC defense that allowed just 11 goals in 14 matches – the fewest allowed among all conference teams.
Sanchez, a first-team, All-OEC selection as a freshman, and Serra combined for 15 goals and 11 assists in 2013 for the Pirates.
Third-place Santiago Canyon received three first-team selections and filled them with the freshmen trio of forward Ivan Azpeitia, defender Mitchell Bell and forward Roberto Escudero. Azpeitia had seven goals and four assists, while Escudero led the Hawks with 13 goals and three assists. Bell, who notched a goal and an assist as well, helped a SCC defense that held the opposition to less than one goal per game.
Other first-team, all-conference selections include sophomore defender Joshua Garcia (Golden West), freshman defender Miguel Hernandez (Golden West), freshman defender Edgar Terran (Fullerton), freshman forward Jose Montes De Oca (Fullerton), sophomore defender Joshua Davis (Irvine Valley), sophomore midfielder Daniel Totays (Irvine Valley), sophomore forward Alejandro Moreno (Norco) and freshman midfielder Jesus Ibarra (Cypress).
The Pirates, Dons and Hawks each earned postseason berths and each will play first-round matches on Saturday afternoon, beginning at 2 p.m.
2013 ALL-ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE
Coach of the Year – Kevin Smith, Orange Coast
Co-Most Valuable Players – Nathan Brown, GK, Orange Coast; Leonardo Contreras, F, Santa Ana
FIRST TEAM
Name School Year Position
Josh Madrid Orange Coast Fr Defender
Blake Mooney Orange Coast Fr Defender
Jorge Sanchez Orange Coast So Forward
Thales Serra Orange Coast So Forward
Uriel Rebollar Santa Ana So Midfielder
Antonio Solis Santa Ana So Defender
Luis Venegas Santa Ana Fr Forward
Ivan Azpeitia Santiago Canyon Fr Forward
Mitchell Bell Santiago Canyon Fr Defender
Roberto Escudero Santiago Canyon Fr Forward
Joshua Garcia Golden West So Defender
Miguel Hernandez Golden West Fr Defender
Edgar Terran Fullerton Fr Defender
Jose Montes De Oca Fullerton Fr Forward
Joshua Davis Irvine Valley So Defender
Daniel Totays Irvine Valley So Midfielder
Alejandro Moreno Norco So Forward
Jesus Ibarra Cypress Fr Midfielder
SECOND TEAM
Name School Year Position
Connor Thaete Orange Coast So Defender
Pedro Etchechury Orange Coast Fr Midfielder
Tyler Rios Orange Coast So Midfielder
Jovanny Lopez Santa Ana Fr Midfielder
Ivan Bastida Santa Ana Fr Midfielder
Luis Trujillo Santa Ana Fr Goalkeeper
Andrew Sanders Santiago Canyon Fr Defender
Carlos Moreno Santiago Canyon Fr Midfielder
Matt William Lane Golden West Fr Defender
David Elias Golden West Fr Goalkeeper
Manuel Juarez Fullerton So Midfielder
Jonathan Negrete Fullerton Fr Goalkeeper
Andres Valentin Irvine Valley So Defender
William Joe Rousseau Irvine Valley So Forward
Cesar Duque Norco Fr Defender
Martin Gonzalez Norco Fr Goalkeeper
Omar Castro Cypress So Defender
Shawn Hansen Cypress Fr Forward