William Prado Selected NAIA All-American

The 2011 Concordia men's soccer season showcased an explosive team that could score in bunches and shows a lot of promise for 2012, with a strong core of returners.

The men went 14-4-1 this year, 6-2-1 in the GSAC, and took third in the GSAC regular season and second in the GSAC Postseason Tournament.  The team finished the season #11 nationally, the highest ranking among conference teams, and just missed an at-large berth to the NAIA Tournament.  CUI was ranked #22 in the final postseason poll, even though they were not accepted into the 32-team NAIA Tournament.  The Eagles were led by juniors William Prado and Christian Ramirez.  Between the two of them, they led every statistical category in the conference. 

Prado was selected as a 2011 NAIA Honorable Mention All-American.  Prado, Ramirez, sophomore Edgar Orozco, and senior Armando Padilla were all chosen All-GSAC.  For head coach Chris Gould it was the most wins his team has had in his three seasons at CUI.

The team finished nationally ranked in six categories.  They were 13^th in assists per game (2.420), 18^th in total assists (46), 20^th in goals per game (2.89), 21^st in total goals (55), 25^th in shutouts per game (.37), and 28^th in total shutouts (7).

Individually, Ramirez was ranked nationally in a number of categories.  He finished fifth in points per game (2.530), 10^th in total points (48), 11^th in total assists (12), 12^th in total goals (18), 13^th in shots per game (4.790), 17^th in shots on goal per game (2.58), 17^th in assists per game (.63), 18^th in goals per game (.95), and 32^nd in total game winning goals (4).  Ramirez was also the NAIA Player of the Week one time and GSAC Player of the Week three times.  Prado, the team's facilitator, was nationally ranked in four statistical areas.  He was first in total assists (18), first in assists per game (1.06), 30^th in points per game (2), and 39^th in total points (34).

One of the high points of the year had to be the GSAC Semifinals game at Azusa Pacific, where the Eagles dominated the NCAA-bound APU squad from start to finish in the 4-2 win.  It was only the sixth win against APU all-time.  The Eagles graduate eight seniors, but return some talented underclassmen, especially on the offensive side of the ball.  Christian Ramirez set some individual records on September 2^nd against William Jessup, when he had five goals and two assists to break the school single-game goal and point records in the 10-0 win.

2011 was a great season for CUI soccer and there are many reasons to believe this program will continue to get better and achieve even more.

2011 NAIA All-Americans