Cowley nabs soccer Coach and Defensive Player of the Year awards

The Cowley College men's soccer team, the Jayhawk Conference West Division champions, were rewarded for their strong season by having Alvaro Gabancho named the Jayhawk West Defensive Player of the Year and Ruy Vaz named the Coach of the Year for the third straight season.

Cowley went 9-1 in the Jayhawk West and finished with an overall record of 11-3 as they had seven players named all-conference.

Freshman midfielders Antonio Marra (eight goals, two assists), Takeru Moriyama, and Masaya Sekiguchi joined Gabancho as First Team All-Jayhawk West selections, as did forwards Ryoma Sakamoto (four goals, four assists) and Andre Cavichione (five goals, four assists). Sophomore defender Leonardo Palmieri was named Second Team all-conference.

"Those guys earned those honors," Vaz said. "The other coaches in the conference recognized their level of play. Also, Alvaro was by far the best defender in the conference. With his size, speed, and leadership he is a (NCAA) Division I type player."

Vaz has now been named the Coach of the Year in the conference all three seasons as coach of the Tigers. Vaz is 43-8-2 in three seasons at the helm of the Cowley soccer program.

"The players make me look good," Vaz said. "This award also shows how hard our assistant coach Tanner (Brock) and I have been working. This should be a staff of the year award."

Barton's Felipe D' Agostini (14 goals, seven assists) was named the Jayhawk West Player of the Year.

ALL-KJCCC FIRST TEAM - WEST

Player                          POS                 CL.                  COLLEGE

Felipe D'Agostini        Forward           Sophomore      Barton Community College

Ryoma Sakamoto        Forward           Freshman        Cowley College

Gabrielle Privitera       Forward           Sophomore      Barton Community College

Andre Cavichione       Forward           Sophomore      Cowley College

Ivan Zuniga                 Midfielder       Freshman        Barton Community College

Antonio Marra            Midfielder       Freshman        Cowley College

Takeru Moriyama        Midfielder       Freshman        Cowley College

Masaya Sekiguchi        Midfielder       Freshman        Cowley College

Alvaro Gabancho        Defender         Sophomore      Cowley College

Luis Rodriguez            Defender         Sophomore      Barton Community College

Manaka Sato                Defender         Freshman        Barton Community College

Matheiue Mayundi      Defender         Sophomore      Dodge City Community College

Ryota Ishizuka             Defender         Sophomore      Dodge City Community College

Yuki Nishigaki             Goalkeeper      Sophomore      Barton Community College

ALL-KJCCC SECOND TEAM - WEST

Player                          POS                 CL.                  COLLEGE

Christopher Quijano   Forward           Sophomore      Dodge City Community College

Jeremie Briquet           Midfielder       Sophomore      Dodge City Community College

Felix Mesquita             Midfielder       Freshman        Garden City Community College

David Lopez                Defender         Sophomore      Barton Community College

Leonardo Palmieri       Defender         Sophomore      Cowley College

Marco Galardini          Goalkeeper      Sophomore      Dodge City Community College