MERCED, Calif. - Daniel Borges was named the California Pacific Conference Player of the Year and eight University of California, Merced men's soccer players earned postseason honors at the Cal Pac Tournament Championship banquet on Wednesday night. Borges is the Bobcats first Cal Pac Player of the Year since 2020.
All eight Bobcats were voted All-Cal Pac First Team or All-Cal Pac Second Team, marking the second time in program history head coach Albert Martins' squad has accomplished that feat (2020).
Five Bobcats earned All-Cal Pac First Team honors with Andres Alonso, Xavier Barajas, Diego Fresquez, and Jaycob Walker joining Cal Pac Player of the Year Borges on the top list. Walker was also named the Cal Pac Freshman of the Year.
Edwin Casillas, Kevin Capetillo, and Angel Joaquin were recognized on the All-Cal Pac Second Team for the second-seeded and co-regular season champion Bobcats.
Overall, Borges is the program's fourth Cal Pac Player of the Year joining Cody Golbad, Marcos Ceballos, and Juan Flores. Also of note, Borges is the first Bobcat to earn back-to-back All-Cal Pac First Team honors in his first two years with the team since Marcus DeCouto and Ricky Rosas did so in 2018.
Borges finished as the Cal Pac scoring champion both in the regular season (31 points/12 goals) and in Cal Pac play (21 points/8 goals). He had a goal contribution in 12 of the Bobcats 13 games and his 31 total points matches his count from a year ago. He opened the season with a goal contribution in nine consecutive games and then after the 0-0 draw against Westcliff, the Turlock, Calif., native had at least two goal contributions in the last three regular season games. He had three braces in Cal Pac play. Borges earned two Cal Pac Offensive Player of the Week awards in the campaign.
Alonso played 948 minutes with 548 of them coming in Cal Pac play. Primarily spearheading the Bobcats excellence defense as a starting center back, Alonso also saw minutes as an outside back for head coach Albert Martins. Alonso and the Bobcats are currently tied for seventh in the country having only conceded eleven goals. NAIA opponents only scored five total goals against the Bobcats. Also contributing on the attack, the Berkeley, Calif., native recorded the game-winning goal at UC Santa Cruz.
Fresquez did it all in the midfield for UC Merced playing a significant role for the Cal Pac's best offense and one of the conference's top defenses. He finished conference play with three assists and also scored a goal of his own against postseason qualifier Soka. Before the Cal Pac schedule, Fresquez also scored goals against NCAA Division II opponents Fresno Pacific and Jessup. He logged 951 total minutes, the third most of any UC Merced field player.
Barajas played defensive midfielder and then moved into a center back role down the stretch of the regular season. His 982 total minutes played was second on the squad, while his 552 minutes in conference play ranked first. Offensively, he had an assist each against Providence Christian College and Cal Maritime. Also of note, he scored the game-winning goal in the season opener against The Master's. Barajas returns to the first team for the third year in a row, joining only Andy Galvan (2014-16) as the two Bobcats with three straight All-Cal Pac First Team selections in their careers.
Walker, the Cal Pac Freshman of the Year, proved to be versatile for the Bobcats this season as an outside back. He started six of the seven conference games and registered 408 minutes of action. He scored three goals in the final week of the regular season and helped the Bobcats to two season-ending shutouts as well to earn Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Week honors. Walker is the Bobcats first freshman of the year since Rodolfo Prado in 2018. Also of note, he is the first freshman to earn first team honors since DeCouto and Rosas in 2017.
Casillas led all UC Merced field players in minutes played throughout the regular season logging 988 minutes. He played the full time in seven matches while also notching at least 80 minutes in two other outings. Along with his stellar defense, the center back was key on set pieces and headed in his first career goal for a 71st minute game-winning goal against postseason qualifier La Sierra. Casillas also scored against Simpson. He was twice named the Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Week.
Capetillo earns his third career All-Cal Pac Second Team nod and fourth postseason honor overall after recording eleven points with three goals and five assists. He had five points in conference play with three assists and one goal. On October 5, Capetillo became the program's all-time assists leader and he heads into the postseason with 39 career assists. His record-breaking assist on October 5 capped off his streak with an assist in three consecutive matches. Capetillo opened the year with a three-point match against The Master's University.Â
Goalkeeper Angel Joaquin ranked second in the conference with a 0.90 goals against average overall and was even better in Cal Pac play with a 0.44 GAA. He posted solo shutouts against Pacific Union College and Westcliff, while combining for shutouts against three other Cal Pac foes. Joaquin started all 13 games for the Bobcats totaling 1,099 minutes between the posts.
The Cal Pac also announced champions of character recipients and the All-Academic Team on Wednesday night. Fresquez was selected as the Bobcats champions of character honoree, while Casillas earned a spot on the All-Academic Team.
The second-seeded Bobcats begin California Pacific Conference Tournament Championship play against third-seeded Soka on Thursday, November 7. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm at Bobcat Field in Merced, Calif.
