M Soccer: Briseno Earns Co-MVP; Gimenez Co-Coach of the Year

A pair of goal-scoring forwards – Irvine Valley College's Ivan Lopez and Golden West's Ricky Briceno – earned Co-Most Valuable Player honors for the 2021 season as the All-Orange Empire Conference Men's Soccer team was announced earlier this week.

Briseno, a 6'0, 185-pound sophomore from Santiago High School, led the conference with seven goals and five assists for an OEC-best 19 points for the Rustlers, while Lopez, a freshman forward from Godinez HS, was close behind with four goals and four assists. For the season, this duo finished 1-2 in points, with Briseno leading the way with 12 goals and seven assists (31 points), followed by Lopez with eight goals and six assists (22 points).

With both the Rustlers and the Santa Ana College Dons deadlocked atop the OEC standings, both coaches – GWC's Alejandro Gimenez and SAC's Jose Vasquez – were named Co-Coaches of the Year for the OEC.

Those top two teams had seven players earn first-team honors, including GWC's Jonathan Ruiz, Christopher Ayala, Jafet Lopez and Jose Amaya, as well as SAC's Omar Rodriguez, Marcelo Aguirre, Cristian Diaz and Antonio Wall.

Listed below is this year's All-Orange Empire Conference Men's Soccer Team.

CO-COACH OF THE YEAR
Jose Vasquez (Santa Ana)
Alejandro Gimenez (Golden West)