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The Menlo College men’s soccer team, which capped a 10-0 season in the California Pacific Conference last week with a 2-0 victory over Holy Names in Oakland, is packing its bags for a trip to Georgia and the first round of the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championships.
The Oaks (13-3-1) will open against host Southern Polytechnic State University on Saturday in Marietta, Ga.
Among those making the trip with Menlo are Sacred Heart Prep grad Alex Vukic, Gunn grad Sam Zipperstein, Menlo-Atherton grad Enrique Ortiz and Palo Alto native Blair Ord.
Two of their teammates, meanwhile, earned Cal Pac honors following last week’s title-clinching victory.
Menlo senior Matheus Barbosa, who had the game-winning goal over Holy Names, was selected as the Cal Pac Offensive Player of the Week. The native of Goiania, Brazil had four shots, two of which were on goal, and the one goal.
Menlo junior goalie Alex Palomarez, meanwhile, recorded his eighth shutout of the 2011 season in the Oaks’ championship-clinching match and was selected as the conference Defensive Player of the Week. A native of Fremont, Palomarez had four saves in the Oaks’ match against Holy Names.
Sixth-ranked Southern Poly reached its third consecutive NAIA tournament. The Hornets (15-2-2) have won each of their previous two first-round matches.
In addition to 15 players from the state of Georgia (and one each from Florida and Pennsylvania), Southern Poly has players from the Dominican Republic, Germany, Cameroon, England, Brazil, Tobago, Trinidad, Botswana, South Africa, Argentina and Iraq.
The Oaks have 17 players from the state of California, one from Hawaii, and players from Norway, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Brazil, England, Italy, Venezuela and Guatemala.
Women’s soccer
Menlo College senior Mallory Todd was named Cal Pac Conference Co-Defender of the Year, junior Alison Hammond was named Newcomer of the Year and Steffany Dudley was named Freshman of the Year in women’s soccer honors announced Tuesday.
Dudley, Todd and Kristina Roome were named to the 14-player all-Cal Pac team.
Dudley led the team in goals with 14 and assists with 31, both among the most in the conference.
“Steff worked tirelessly all season long and proved she was one of the best strikers in the conference,” Menlo coach Scott Myers said. “She is a complete player as a freshman that will no doubt continue to get better as the years go by.”
Hammond finished second on the squad in goals with eight as she proved to be a force to be reckoned with all year long.
Men’s basketball
Menlo continued its slew of challenging early season opponents, dropping a 79-45 nonleague decision on the road to NCAA Division III Humboldt State on Monday night.
Despite the setback, the Oaks (0-4) received key contributions from their trio of big men — Tim Tatum, Andrew Young, and Malik Dunbar. All three reached double figures, accounting for 34 of the team’s 45 points. Tatum and Dunbar also chipped in with a game-high seven rebounds each.
Menlo will travel to Vallejo for its first tournament of the year, the Cal Maritime Classic this Friday and Saturday. The Oaks will face Montana State Northern on Friday at 5:30 p.m., and West Coast Baptist on Saturday, also at 5:30 p.m.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports