LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The 2016 Golden State Athletic Conference soccer regular season came to a close last week, which means this week is award time! Biola Men's Soccer came away with three men's soccer all-conference honors after finishing with a .500 record in GSAC play and making it into the GSAC Tournament.
 
Leonardo Contreras, Kousei Mattox and Sammy McKay each earned the prestigious honors in recognition of their contributions to Head Coach Todd Elkins' team this season. It is Contreras and Mattox's second all-conference honors in as many years with the Eagles. It is the first time McKay's earned a postseason honor from the GSAC.
 
Contreras ended the regular season with a team-high 14 points (six goals, two assists). He could have had many more than that had he not deferred multiple penalty kick attempts to his teammates.
 
Last year Contreras earned all-conference honors, All-American honors and the GSAC Newcomer of the Year award. He was (and will continue to be) just as integral to the Eagles' success in 2016 as a senior captain and the biggest threat on the ball on the team.
 
Mattox also earned All-GSAC honors in 2015 and could have just as easily been selected as the conference's newcomer of the year after a phenomenal freshman season. As a sophomore he's transformed into a leader and very strong voice on this Eagles' team and has played a critical role in the offensive and defensive efforts of the team with his play in the midfield.
 
Mattox ended the regular season with a goal and three assists to contribute well to the offense, but his presence was even more important in the defensive third as he helped form the second-best defense in the GSAC (just 11 goals allowed in 16 matches). If you remove an out-of-character final week of the regular season this defense allowed just 0.36 goals-per-game to its opponents in 2016.
 
Playing an even larger role in that defensive effort was Sammy McKay. McKay paired with Riley Waldeck to form a nearly impenetrable center back tandem for Coach Elkins.
 
The second-year Eagle consistently shut down all of the conference's most dangerous attackers to help Biola get off to a 10-4 start to the season and 5-3 start in conference. He also slipped into the box with regularity to make a very dangerous attacker on set pieces this season. McKay ended his junior year with two goals and three assists to earn the third-most points of anyone on the team.
 
Biola sits at 10-6 (5-5 GSAC) entering the 2016 Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament. The team begins play at the tournament this Saturday (Nov. 5) at Vanguard. If Biola can win that match they will come back home as we host the GSAC Tournament semifinals and finals on Nov. 10 and Nov. 12.