Los Angeles, Calif. Loyola Marymount sophomore forward
Arturo Torres capped an outstanding 2000 season by being named the West Coast Conference co-Player of the Year for men's soccer, WCC Commissioner Michael Gilleran announced Wednesday.
Torres, who will share honors with University of San Diego sophomore forward Ryan Coiner, becomes the first LMU soccer player - male or female - to earn conference Player of the Year recognition. The Wilmington, Calif., native ranked third in the West Coast Conference with 32 points (11 goals, 10 assists), while his 10 points in games against WCC opponents tied for the league lead. In 2000 Torres showed the ability to pass the ball as well as score with it, as his 10 assists established a new single-season school record and ranked him tied for 18th nationally with 0.56 assists per game.
He scored or assisted on 21 of the Lions' 26 goals, and enjoyed eight multi-point games including three four-point efforts en route to leading LMU to the most victories (10) in program history. During consecutive games against San Diego (Oct. 15) and Portland (Oct. 22), Torres broke Loyola Marymount records for career goals and points; he now has 37 goals and 68 points in just 36 games as a Lion. Torres earned consecutive league Player of the Week honors following the aforementioned games and was then named WCC Player of the Month for October. His first team All-West Coast Conference award this season was the second such honor of his young career.
LMU defender Jeff Kovar, an honorable mention All-WCC pick in 1999, garnered second team recognition as a sophomore this season. The native of Palos Verdes, Calif., tallied two points in 2000, scoring the game-tying goal in a come-from behind overtime victory against UC Irvine on Sept. 29. However, Kovar's real impact came in the backfield, where he has developed a reputation as a tenacious defender who excels at winning head balls.
Joining Kovar on the all-conference second team was freshman midfielder Michael Erush (Van Nuys, Calif.). Already one of the Lions' vocal leaders, Erush ranked second on the team with four assists and scored the "golden goal" in just his second collegiate game to defeat Loyola Chicago 1-0 in overtime on Sept. 3.
Seniors Jerad Bailey and Spencer Reeves capped their four-year LMU careers with All-WCC honorable mention acclaim, the first postseason conference award for each player. Bailey posted a career-low 1.41 goals against average in 2000 and ranked sixth among Division I goalkeepers with 6.81 saves per game. His total of 109 saves this season exceeded his previous career high by 35. Meanwhile Reeves was the second-most prolific Loyola Marymount scorer with nine points (three goals, three assists). All three of his assists came on game-winning goals. Also earning honorable mention recognition was sophomore midfielder Andres Murriagui, who tallied eight points including a two-goal performance against UC Irvine. He was a second team All-WCC pick last season.
West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year honors went to Portland forward Nate Jaqua, while midfielder Jeff Stewart of Santa Clara was the league's Defender of the Year. San Diego's Seamus McFadden, who shared WCC Coach of the Year honors with the Lions' Paul Krumpe in 1999, earned his third consecutive award this season.