IRVINE, CA --- Concordia senior soccer players Zahira Montanez and Joel Smith each garnered NAIA All-American honors, as Smith earns first-team recognition for the second year in a row and Montanez becomes the first-ever All-American in the women's team's 13-year history.

Both players spent four years in a Concordia uniform, as Montanez finished her career with 66 games played--mainly at defender in her last two years--and Smith became one of just six players in program history (along with fellow senior Adrian Martinez) to play in 80 or more career games.

Smith is one of just two players to be named to the NAIA All-American team twice, with consecutive first-team awards in his final two years, and was named NAIA All-American Honorable Mention in his first two years at the collegiate level.

Smith is also just the second player in program history to earn four All-Golden State Athletic Conference selections. Although a defender, he notched 12 goals and four assists, and helped shore up a 2007 defense that advanced all the way to the NAIA National Championships title game.

Montanez had been named to the NAIA All-American Honorable Mention list as a 2006 freshman, but becomes CUI's first-ever NAIA All-American with third-team selection as a 2009 senior.

A two-time All-GSAC honoree (2006 and 2009), Montanez scored six goals over her first two years before moving into a defensive role in 2008 and 2009, and battled back from an injury that ended her season in 2008 to play in 16 of her team's 17 games as a senior.

Concordia men's soccer went 9-7-2 and was eliminated by Westmont in the first round of the GSAC Playoffs, while the women finished at 8-5-4 and fell in the first round of the GSAC Playoffs on penalty kicks against Vanguard.