(SAN DIEGO)
Cole Friesen was named the D2CCA West Region Player of the Year, becoming the first PLNU Men's Soccer player to earn the award.
The Point Loma forward leads a group of five Sea Lions who also earned D2CCA All-West Region honors, which includes junior forward
Emmett Layman, junior forward
Elijah Langford, junior defender
Ryan Doyle and senior midfielder
Gael Ruiz.
Friesen is tied for second in NCAA Division II with 37 points, as he is tied for fifth nationally with 14 goals and tied for 13th with nine assists. He was previously named the PacWest Championships Most Outstanding Player.
Layman is tied for the NCAA Division II lead with 15 goals this season, while tied for fifth nationally with 34 points.
Both Friesen and Layman were selected to the D2CCA All-West Region First Team and scored in the NCAA Super Region 4 Second Round on Saturday, as Point Loma advanced past Cal State San Bernardino on penalties.
Langford is PLNU's third double-digit goal scorer this season with 11 goals in just 626 minutes played. He was the team's leading scorer before missing six games due to injury.
Doyle, a back-to-back All-West Region honoree along with Langford, has anchored PLNU's back line that led the PacWest in goals against average during conference play. He also has a goal and an assist this year.
Ruiz has played in all 20 games, including 17 starts, while accumulating 1,620 minutes played. He has scored once and added two assists, and converted a penalty kick in PLNU's shootout victory over CSUSB.
Langford, Doyle and Ruiz earned D2CCA All-West Region Second Team honors.
All five of PLNU's D2CCA All-West Region honorees were previously selected to the All-PacWest Team.
Point Loma (15-3-2 overall) plays in the NCAA Tournament Third Round on Saturday, hosting UCCS (12-5-5) on Saturday at 1 p.m. on the PLNU Soccer Field.
