KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Portland Pilots had three players earn United Soccer Coaches All-West Region honors on Tuesday, with defender Kevin Bonilla and midfielder Nick Fernandez making the first team and forward Jacob Babalai making the second team. It's the first time the Pilots have had multiple first team selections since 2018.
Bonilla put together one of the best seasons from a defender in the nation. He started all 17 matches for Portland and notched a goal and 10 assists as a right back. An All-WCC First Team selection and the WCC Defender of the Year, he was the first Pilot since 2017 to post 10 assists or more in a season, leading the WCC and ranking eighth in the nation. The captain also guided a Pilot defense that led the WCC in both shutout percentage (.471) and goals-against average (.882) and ranked 12
th and 24
th nationally in those respective categories.
Fernandez was a fellow award-winner this year, becoming the first Pilot to ever win WCC Midfielder of the Year along with making the All-WCC First Team. Fernandez scored two goals with seven assists in 15 matches played, including a game-winning goal against San Francisco that secured a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament for Portland. He ranked fourth in the WCC in assists and fourth in assists per game (.47) as well. It's the second year in a row he's made an All-West Region team, having made the third team last year.
For the first time in his career, Babalai made an all-region team, making the second team. An All-WCC First Team selection, Babalai scored a WCC-leading 12 goals along with four assists for 28 points total, also tops in the conference. Nationally, he was 15
th in total goals and 20
th and points, and his 12 goals through 17 games were the most by a Pilot through that few games since Stevie Evans in 2012.
The Pilots are coming off a solid year that saw them go 12-5 and earn a first-round bye for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. They led the WCC in 11 different categories and nationally ranked second in assists per game (3.18), third in scoring offense (2.65), fourth in assists (54), fifth in points (144), sixth in goals (45) and goal differential (30), 12
th in shutout percentage (.471), 21
st in overall win percentage (.706) and 24
th in goals-against average (.882).
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