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Matadors’ forward Damien Hoyte and midfielder Alonso Avila were named to the 1^st Team and forward James Grant was a 2^nd Team All-ACCAC selection.  The announcements were made at the postseason meetings in Phoenix today.

Forbes-the third-year sophomore goalkeeper-played his best soccer of the season down the stretch.  The native of Scarborough, Canada, got out off to a slow start in 2006, but hit his stride in mid-September, and delivered five shutouts in conference play, and all but one of those shutouts was away from home.  Overall, Forbes-who was an NJCAA 3^rd Team All-American selection last season-finished the regular season with a 0.92 goals against average, which was 4^th among ACCAC goalkeepers.  Joining Forbes on the All-Region I/All-ACCAC 1^st team for the second straight season is Hoyte, who was 2^nd on the team in scoring this season.  The native of Barbados-who actually was part of the Under-21 Barbados National Soccer team this past summer-finished with a total of 8 goals and 4 assists.  Despite spending most of the season as the main focus of opponents’ game plans, the 20 points Hoyte scored was good enough for 9^th among conference scorers in 2006.  Meanwhile, Avila made the All-Region I/All-ACCAC 1^st Team for the first time after being named All-ACCAC Honorable Mention in 2005.  Avila was truly a calming influence for the rest of the team this season from his spot at midfield.  Avila was named the ‘Man of the Match’ (awarded to the player that was most valuable during each match) five different times, including twice during the last three games of the regular season.  Avila scored the Mats’ final goal of the regular season last night against Yavapai, and wound up with 5 goals overall in ’06.

AWC Head Soccer Coach Kenny Dale had praised Grant this summer as one of the players who had made the most progress from his freshman to his sophomore seasons, and Grant proved it on the field.  Grant started off with a ‘hat trick’ (3 goals in one game) in the Matadors’ second game of the season against Imperial Valley College, and another one during the last week of the season against South Mountain.  Overall, Grant was the team’s leader in goal scoring with 11 in conference and 14 goals overall, and he was 4^th in the ACCAC in conference scoring with 28 points (11 goals, 6 assists).  The All-ACCAC 2^nd Team selection of Grant-who came to AWC from Tokyo, Japan-was his first postseason selection as a Matador.  Dale was pleased by the number of AWC players that were selected-especially since coaches can’t vote for their own players.  “We’re really excited for our players to get recognition-particularly because that is respect that’s coming from the coaches in the league,” remarked Dale.  “It’s nice to know that those who see the hard work that these kids exhibit on the field-game in and game out-appreciate it enough to give them the ultimate kind of respect in the postseason meetings.”

The Matadors now turn their collective focus to hosting the Region I Quarterfinal Game for the 2^nd straight season.  The Matadors finished the regular season in 3^rd place in the ACCAC with a 13-6 record overall and a 12-6 conference mark-the most conference wins ever by an AWC Soccer squad.  The 3^rd-seeded Matadors will host the 6^th-seeded Mesa Thunderbirds Tuesday night at the AWC Soccer Field.  Game time will officially be determined on Monday (either 6PM or 7PM).  The winner will advance to the Region I Semifinals on Thursday afternoon against 2^nd-seeded Pima in Tucson.