Dominican was the surprise team in the PacWest during the 2022 season, at least according to the other coaches in the conference who had them tabbed seventh in the preseason poll.
The Penguins, who would go on to win a share of the PacWest title with Biola, won’t sneak up on anyone this year. They are the preseason pick of the coaches to win the 2023 crown, although it was far from a unanamous take. In one of the closest votes since the polls began, Dominican (109 poll points) edged Point Loma (103) and Biola (100).
Dominican garnered five of the 11 first place votes with Point Loma and Biola gaining three each.
The Penguins can also claim two of the three special awards. Louie Galdamez is the Preseason Defender of the Year and Alejandro Reyes is the Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. The Preseason Player of the Year is Concordia’s Anthony Morales.
Louie Galdamez was a First Team All-PacWest pick last season, leading a Dominican defense that gave up just 1.33 goals per match. The Penguins went 12-6 overall and 8-2 in PacWest play, one year after finishing 3-6-1 in league action in 2021. That helped earn DUC leader David Frank PacWest Coach of the Year honors. Alejandro Reyes returns in the goal, one of eight returning starters for Coach Frank. Reyes had a Dominican school record five shutouts in 2022 and notched another school mark with a 1.31 GAA.
Forward Alexandre Bernier and midfielder Jesus Duran were additional Penguin selections to the 14-man PacWest All-Preseason team, giving Dominican a league-high four selections.
Point Loma, who had three first place votes, had three members named to the Preseason Team. Defenders Milo Libby and Milan Diklic were Sea Lion representatives, along with forward Austin Lavell. Diklic was a First Team All-PacWest pick in ‘22, while Libby was a Second Team honoree and Lavell was a Third Team selection.
Biola, the only team to qualify for NCAA postseason play last Fall, also had three first place votes in today’s release. Ethan Hardin (midfielder) and Quintin Benn-John (forward) were picked to the Preseason squad. Hardin was a Third Team pick in 2022, while Benn-John is a Butte College transfer who scored 30 goals over the course of two seasons. The Eagles had big losses to graduation, including the PacWest Player of the Year (Kristin Colaci), the PacWest Defender of the Year (Izaac Zausch) and Goalkeeper of the Year (JD Gunn).
Concordia, fourth in the preseason poll, has the 2023 Preseason Player of the Year in Anthony Morales. The sophomore midfielder was the PacWest Freshman of the Year last year and was also a First Team All-PacWest selection. Morales knocked home seven goals, the sixth best total in the conference. Just four poll points behind the Golden Eagles is Azusa Pacific, who is represented on the Preseason Team by goalkeeper Leo Moreno and defender Fritz Oestreicher. Moreno had 55 saves last Fall, third best in the PacWest. He had a 1.47 GAA, fifth in the conference. Oestreicher earned Second Team honors last year as a sophomore.
Sixth in the poll, HPU landed midfielder Leandro Weingartner on the preseason team. Weingartner was a Third Team selection last year. Newcomer to the conference Westmont occupies the seventh slot. The Warriors went 9-5-2 last season and were 4-4-1 in the NAIA’s Golden State Athletic Conference.
Fresno Pacific is next in the poll, followed by UH-Hilo, Academy of Art and Chaminade. ART U’s Gilly Miller made the Preseason Team after scoring ten goals a season ago (second in the PacWest) and he had a conference-best six assists.
While a number of players on the above list were All-PacWest performers last season, it is the first time for any of them to be named to the Preseason All-PacWest Team.
Soccer action begins this Thursday. A number of intriguing match-ups are on the schedule, including Biola (Thursday) and Point Loma (Saturday) playing at CCAA preseason favorite Cal Poly Pomona.
Dominican opens at home against Cal State East Bay (Thursday) and Cal Poly Humboldt (Saturday). Concordia hosts Cal State San Marcos (Saturday), while Azusa Pacific opens with Cal State Dominguez Hills. HPU will welcome Northwest Nazarene to open 2023, while Westmont begins their Division II era by hosting St. Martin’s.
Fresno Pacific kicks off 2023 at The Master’s, UH-Hilo will host Western Oregon on Oahu, Academy of Art plays Cal Poly Humboldt and Chaminade begins play on Saturday against Northwest Nazarene.