CORVALLIS, Ore. – Two players on the University of Providence men's soccer teams were named to the Cascade Collegiate Conference All-Conference team, while three more were named Honorable Mention.

Fernando Gutierrez was named 1^st Team All-Conference and Manu Garcia was named 2^nd Team All-Conference. Ole Cloppenburg, George Holloway and Alain Murhula were also named Honorable Mention All-Conference.

"I'm pleased that the five guys got something," head coach Matt Ball said. "It's a positive for our program. We had a good season and ultimately these awards are reflective of that. All of these guys played a key role in us having the season that we had. When the team does well, players get recognized and that's the situation that we found ourselves in."

Gutierrez started in 15 games for the Argos. He led the team with nine goals, impressive considering he played a majority of the season on the backline. However, he was moved to an attacker when Holloway went down with a shoulder injury towards the end of the season. 

"Guti brought a lot to our team," Ball said. "He acts like a professional, he lives like a professional, he plays like he wants to be a professional. He's obviously a big part of what we do, especially towards the end of the season when we lost George and we had to make some adjustments. He played a role that was not familiar to him and did it very well. He is a standout player and deserves to be on the 1^st team."

Ball was also impressed with midfielder Manu Garcia, who was new to the Argo program. Garcia contributed four goals and five assists in his first year as an Argonaut

"Manu was new to us this year and had to adjust a little bit," Ball said. "It took him two or three games to really get into the swing of it, but once he did and we started finding him the ball more, you could see what he was able to do and what he was able to create. Somebody like him, we're obviously very excited to see what he's going to produce next year off the back of this award. Now that he knows what we're about and what we're trying to do, he knows he's going to be a big piece of it and I'm sure he will apply himself accordingly."

Ball was pleased that Cloppenburg, Holloway and Murhula received votes to be nominated for All-Conference, though expressed that they were capable of being on a higher team. He also thought there were players that didn't receive awards that were deserving of getting conference recognition.

"I thought Ole and George potentially deserved to get into at least the 2^nd team, so I'm a little bit disappointed," Ball said. "For Ole especially, because I don't think personally there were a lot of better defenders than him this year. I think George would have got at least on the 2^nd team had he been fit for the remainder of the season. I also think Seamus Quinn and Leo Almeida had a chance for at-least Honorable Mention. It is what it is."

However, Ball is appreciative for what the three players brought to the Argos this year. Cloppenburg was a rock at the center back position, proving to be an invaluable piece to the Argo defense. He also scored two goals and had an assist, including a game-winning goal against Eastern Oregon. Holloway was a contender for leading the Cascade Conference in goals scored before suffering a shoulder injury midway through the season. He finished with eight goals and one assist. After a slow start to the season, Murhula picked up the pace, finishing with five goals and seven assists for the season.
 
 "George was our main goal-scoring threat and would have ended up on the first or second team if he had stayed healthy over the course of the season," Ball said. "That's going to be a tough one to replace. Ole really helps us with the ball and being able to drive out the back and give us some options to go forward. That's something that's not overly common in center backs. As a person, he's going to be exceptionally difficult to replace. Alain had a good year, but what's exciting is he has many more levels to go. I don't think we saw anything close to what his best was this season. I think we started to see it towards the end there, but he's got a big year ahead of him as well. If he lives up to the potential that he's got than I'm sure he'll be competing for 1^st team next year."