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PORTLAND, Ore. – For the second year in a row, Corban's men's soccer team won the conference's Champion of Character team award to go along with a pair of seniors being named as part of the All-Cascade Collegiate Conference team when the league office made the announcement earlier Tuesday.
Senior
Aaron Franklin (Red Bluff, Calif.) joined fellow goalkeeper Nathan Salveson of Evergreen on the first team, while senior
Chris Smerke (Las Vegas, Nev.) was included in a quartet of four-year players on the second team. Senior
Mark Mendenhall (Windsor, Calif.) and junior
Ayouba Moussa (Maradi, Niger) earned all-conference honorable mention for the Warriors as well.
"I am really pleased with the awards that we received especially the Champions of Character for the second year in a row," said fourth-year head coach
Dave Irby. "Aaron's award was well deserved, as he played outstanding all season and performed like an all-conference first team member. Chris also deserves his recognition since he played injured most of the season and still helped anchor our defense."
Franklin, a 5-foot-10 goalkeeper and team co-captain, played every minute between the pipes for Corban this season and registered a team and conference-high 104 saves in nearly 1,600 minutes in goal. His Goals Against Average (GAA) of 1.52 is tied for second all-time for a single season in program history, while ranking seventh in the conference. Franklin averaged a league-high 6.12 saves per game and posted a save percentage of .794, which ranked third in the conference. The fourth-year Warrior also posted a league-high six shutouts, while concluding his final season at Corban with a 440-plus minute scoreless streak that dated back to the 50th minute of the Warriors' game versus The College of Idaho on October 23rd.
For his career, Franklin amassed a GAA of 1.72 and posted 14 career shutouts to rank second all-time in men's soccer history in both categories. In four seasons as a Warrior, Franklin manned the net for 5,180-plus minutes, allowed 99 goals, and registered 357 saves.
Smerke, a 5-foot-7 midfielder, transferred to Corban this year after playing the past two seasons for fellow conference member Cascade College. Following a junior season in which Smerke was named first team all-conference, the first-year Warrior appeared in and started all 17 games this season while scoring one goal and registering two points. Smerke tallied Corban's game-winning goal in a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over conference rival Northwest Christian, while manning the Warriors' midfield defense during his final season of collegiate soccer.
Mendenhall, a 6-foot-3 defender and team co-captain, appeared in and started 15 games in his final season as a Warrior. The four-year leader of Corban's defense scored a pair of goals and registered four points this season, including a game-winning score via a penalty kick against The College of Idaho during the Warriors' season-ending four-game unbeaten streak.
During his career, Mendenhall appeared in 65 games and made 58 starts to go along with five goals, three assists, and 13 points.
Moussa, a 6-foot-3 forward, appeared in only 10 games as a junior before suffering a season-ending injury against Evergreen. During his limited time on the field this season, Moussa led the team in goals with five and points with 12. The high-scoring third-year Warrior also handed out a pair of assists and tallied his lone game-winning goal via a penalty kick in Corban's season-opening 1-0 victory over cross-town rival Willamette.
This is the first time that Corban has placed a player on the all-conference first team since the 2008 season when former Warrior Caleb Louvier earned the honor in his final season as a Warrior. This is the third season in a row that Corban has placed at least one player on the all-conference second team.
Corban concluded its 2009 season at 5-10-2 overall and 4-9-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. The Warriors finished out the '09 campaign unbeaten over their final four games that included three victories via shutout and a scoreless tie against Northwest.