SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Portland picked up three major awards as the West Coast Conference announced its 2023 Men’s Soccer All-Conference and Major Awards on Wednesday. All six individual awards and the All-WCC teams were voted on solely by the Conference’s eight coaches.
The All-WCC First Team is comprised of a specific position format of three forwards three midfielders three defenders, one goalkeeper and one "wildcard" spot given to the student-athlete remaining with the most votes regardless of position.
San Diego won its second straight WCC Men's Soccer Championship as co-champions with Santa Clara. Both of these teams received major awards with Santa Clara head coach Cameron Rast winning Coach of the Year and Mason Tunbridge of the Toreros claiming WCC Offensive Player of the Year accolades. Rast led his Broncos to a share of the Conference title after picking up a 5-1-1 record in league play, including wins over NCAA Tournament teams Portland and LMU. This is the second time in the last three years that Rast has won this award. Tunbridge lit up the scoresheet in Conference matches, finishing tied for second in points with 10 and in goals with three.
Portland earned the most major awards, garnering three of the six. Kevin Bonilla won Defender of the Year, while Nick Fernandez won Midfielder of the Year and Efetobo Aror secured Freshman of the Year accolades. In addition to clamping down on the defensive end of the pitch, Bonilla was stellar at both ends, ranking tied for seventh in the nation in assists with 10. One of the best all-around players in the WCC this season, Fernandez finished eighth in the league in points with six. Aror competed in all 16 games with 11 starts. He amassed three assists over the course of the campaign. Their efforts helped the Pilots finish the 2023 regular season ranking third in the nation in scoring offense.
San Francisco's Eric Waltz won WCC Goalkeeper of the Year. Waltz started 16 of the Dons' 17 matches this season, in goal for all but 45 minutes of the season. He collected six shutouts with a record of 8-4-5. He ended the season with a save percentage of .763 and a goals against average of 0.85.
Portland and Santa Clara led the way with three all-conference first team selections (POR - Jacob Babalai, Bonilla and Fernandez) (SCU - Caden Buckley, Adem Hamdaoua and Jack Stoecker), while San Diego (Tunbridge and Trevor Dillon) and San Francisco (Gabriel Bracken Serra and Reid Roberts) sported two players on the first team. Riley Lynch of Saint Mary's also received first-team recognition. Fernandez and Tunbridge picked up WCC All-Conference First Team honors for the second straight year.
2023 WCC Men's Soccer Award Winners
| WCC COACH OF THE YEAR |
| Cameron Rast |
Santa Clara |
| WCC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR |
| Mason Tunbridge |
San Diego |
Sr. |
| WCC DEFENDER OF THE YEAR |
| Kevin Bonilla |
Portland |
Jr. |
| WCC MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR |
| Nick Fernandez |
Portland |
So. |
| WCC GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR |
| Eric Waltz |
San Francisco |
Jr. |
| WCC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR |
| Efetobo Aror |
Portland |
M |
ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM
| NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
YEAR |
| Jacob Babalai |
Portland |
F |
Jr. |
| Kevin Bonilla |
Portland |
D |
Jr. |
| Gabriel Bracken Serra |
San Francisco |
M |
Jr. |
| Caden Buckley |
Santa Clara |
F |
Jr. |
| Trevor Dillon |
San Diego |
D |
Sr. |
| Nick Fernandez |
Portland |
M |
So. |
| Adem Hamdaoua |
Santa Clara |
M |
Sr. |
| Riley Lynch |
Saint Mary's |
F |
Jr. |
| Reid Roberts |
San Francisco |
D |
So. |
| Jack Stoecker |
Santa Clara |
GK |
Jr. |
| Mason Tunbridge |
San Diego |
M |
Sr. |
ALL-WCC SECOND TEAM
| NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
YEAR |
| Steven Anderson |
LMU |
M |
Sr. |
| Cesar Bahena |
San Diego |
M |
So. |
| Okeefe Cunningham |
LMU |
M |
Jr. |
| Buba Fofanah |
Portland |
F |
Jr. |
| Rhys Gourdie |
San Diego |
M |
Sr. |
| Martin Kwende Jr. |
Santa Clara |
M |
Fr. |
| Robbie Mora |
Gonzaga |
M |
So. |
| Sebastian Nava |
Portland |
M |
Jr. |
| Derick Roque |
Pacific |
F |
Sr. |
| Tyger Smalls |
LMU |
F |
Jr. |
| Ethan Warne |
San Diego |
D |
Jr. |
ALL-WCC FRESHMAN TEAM
| NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
| Toke Amtrup |
Saint Mary's |
D |
| Efetobo Aror |
Portland |
M |
| Jack Civitts |
Santa Clara |
M |
| Sam Dahlin |
Gonzaga |
M |
| Martin Kwende Jr. |
Santa Clara |
M |
| Chris Maldonado |
San Francisco |
F |
| Steven Ramirez |
San Diego |
F |
| Oliver Rhoades |
San Diego |
M |
| Diego Rosas |
Portland |
F |
| Rylan Smith |
San Francisco |
D |
| Justin Sosa |
Saint Mary's |
M |
ALL-WCC HONORABLE MENTION
| NAME |
SCHOOL |
| Vicente Ayala |
San Diego |
| Stefano Campisi |
Gonzaga |
| Nick Denley |
Portland |
| Max Hamelink |
San Francisco |
| Sebastian Hernandez |
Portland |
| Cory Johnson |
Pacific |
| Ross Johnstone |
San Diego |
| Ryan Kingsford |
LMU |
| Bradyn Knutson |
LMU |
| Luke Lawrence |
Saint Mary's |
| Farhan Moustafa |
Gonzaga |
| Wade Muttitt |
Saint Mary's |
| Kash Oladapo |
Portland |
| Damani Osei |
Santa Clara |
| Aaron Sandhu |
Santa Clara |
| Louis Sterobo |
Saint Mary's |
| Callum Stretch |
LMU |
| Eric Waltz |
San Francisco |