LA GRANDE, Ore. – Following a record-breaking season that saw them just shy of a conference title, the Evergreen Geoducks picked up several individual awards, as well as being well represented  on the All-Cascade Conference men’s soccer teams, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning.

Junior Brady Espinoza (Pasco, Wash./Walla Walla CC) was named Cascade Conference Defensive Player of the Year after anchoring the Geoduck defense that led the CCC with nine shutouts on the year.  He also was dangerous on free kicks, scoring four times and assisting on another.

Freshman Willie Spurr (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt HS) earned Newcomer of the Year honors after having a breakout season with 10 goals and 23 points in 17 games played.  His 23 points was second-best in the conference, trailing only Septi Danciu of Concordia, who was named CCC Player of the Year.

The final individual award also went to Evergreen as head coach John Purtteman was named Coach of the Year by his peers.  Under his leadership, the Geoducks with 13-6 overall and 12-2 in conference play.  Having completed his seventh season leading his alma mater, his 44 career wins tie him for second all-time in school history with Tom Boatright.

In addition to the individual awards, both Espinoza and Spurr were named First Team All-CCC.  The Geoducks also placed four on the Second Team All-CCC. Senior forward Mirza Memic (Bellevue, Wash./Whatcom CC), senior midfielder George Bundy (Enumclaw, Wash./Enumclaw HS), junior midfielder Jeff Roland (Tacoma, Wash./South Puget Sound CC) and junior goalkeeper Mauricio Sanchez (Wenatchee, Wash./Wenatchee Valley CC) all earned honors as they helped lead Evergreen this season.

Senior defender Brandon Wood (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho/North Idaho College) wrapped up the Geoducks recognized, earning Honorable Mention honors in his final collegiate season.  The seven players honored is the most ever recognized by the conference in school history.

2012 Men’s Soccer All-CCC Teams

PORTLAND, Ore. – With both teams giving it everything they had, the Concordia Cavaliers repeated as Cascade Conference champions, defeating the Evergreen Geoducks, 2-1, in the 2012 CCC Men’s Soccer Championship final on Saturday night at Tuominen Yard in Portland, Ore.

After pressuring the Geoducks early, it was the Cavaliers who go on the board first as Matt Eronemo sent in a cross in the 33rd minute to the head of Michael Chamberlain, who guided it just under the bar and over the outstretched hands of junior keeper Mauricio Sanchez (Wenatchee, Wash./Wenatchee Valley CC) for the 1-0 lead.

The Cavaliers made it 2-0 shortly after the break as Septi Danciu was taken down in the box and coverted on a penalty kick in the 49th minute.  Both teams went down a man in the 53rd minute as Sanchez and Concordia’s Danny Morato were shown red cards for fighting following a tough foul near midfield.

The physical match continued to keep the referee busy as Concordia’s Sam Carmichael was shown a red card in the 72nd minute following a hard foul on Evergreen keeper Collin Harlow (Kirkland, Wash./Shoreline CC) to give the Geoducks a one-man advantage for the remaining 18 minutes.

The Geoducks got on the board in the 88th minute as Ben Joselyn (North Bend, Wash./Mount Si HS) got on the end of a pair of passes from Kyle Wiese (Battle Ground, Wash./Prairie HS) and Kevin Flavin (Oak Harbor, Wash./Shoreline CC) to pull the green and white within one goal at 2-1 but there wasn’t enough time for Evergreen to pull ahead as Concordia earned the championship trophy.

Concordia held a 19-12 advantage on shots.  Sanchez finished with four saves before leaving the game while Scott Gross made three saves to collect the win for the Cavaliers.

Evergreen concludes the season with a record of 13-5-0.  Concordia moves to 15-3-2 on the year and will learn their NAIA tournament fate on Monday when the release of the sixteen national championship opening round pairings and the official bracket for the 54th annual NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship is made.