CoSIDA Academic All-District Release
REDLANDS, Calif. – The 2021 Academic All-District Men's Soccer Team, selected by CoSIDA, was recently released recognizing the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
The University of Redlands Men's Soccer team saw five players honored for the first time in their careers, including defenders Mikey Flota (West Covina, CA) and Arian Mogharei (Hayward, CA), midfielder Collin ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR), forward Steve Acuña (Pico Rivera, CA), and goalkeeper Aidan McSweeny (San Diego, CA). The last time the U of R Men's Soccer team had a CoSIDA Academic All-District member was back in 2017 when defender Ben Thompson (Spokane, WA) represented the University of Redlands.
Flota, who currently has a 3.50 GPA and earning his MBA has played an instrumental role on the back line for the Bulldogs this season after being named 1st Team All-SCIAC, starting all 21 games with an assist. He has been a part of a defensive unit that has allowed a 0.94 goals against average and posted eight shutouts.
Mogharei, who holds a 3.30 GPA is also earning his MBA and joins Flota as a defensive center back. This year he was selected as the 2021 SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Year and 1st Team All-SCIAC after starting all 21 games and totaling five goals and three assists.
ChubbFertal is the third Bulldog who is currently obtaining his MBA, while boasting a 3.60 GPA. He was named to the All-SCIAC 1st Team, proving to be one of the best midfielders in the country. He played in 20 games this season with a conference leading 14 goals and two assists, totaling 30 points. He finishes with 28 career tallies, which ties him 10th All-Time in the men's soccer record books alongside his older brother Casey ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR).
Acuña, was the lone forward to get recognized. He holds a 3.40 GPA and is majoring in Business Administration coupled with a minor in Spanish. He is a three-year letterwinner who was also named 1st Team All-SCIAC this year after playing in 18 games with three goals and an assist.
McSweeny was the only underclassmen to get recognized on the CoSIDA Academic All-District team and holds the top GPA with a 3.71 as he looks to graduate with a degree in Accounting. This year he split time with Seth Lawrence (Redlands, CA) in goal, but put together impressive numbers playing in 13 games, going 5-1 with a 1.08 goals against average, 24 saves, and a .774 save percentage.
First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in early December. Players must hold a cumulative 3.30 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and have played in at least 50 percent of their team's games to be nominated for recognition. Voting is conducted by sports information directors in each respective region, with First Team All-District honorees advancing to a national ballot voted on by members of the Academic All-America committee.
These five Bulldogs join a pair of Beavers from the California Institute of Technology including defender JD Walker and midfielder Sam Klauer as the only members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) to be recognized on the Academic All-District team for 2021.