AZUSA, Calif. -- Following a PacWest regular season championship, Azusa Pacific claimed five of the six PacWest individual awards as nine Cougars received All-PacWest recognition.
 
True freshman midfielder Gabriel Costa was named the PacWest Player of the Year, freshman defender Isaac Bawa was named Freshman of the Year and Defender of the Year, sophomore forward James Ndubueze is the Newcomer of the Year, and head coach Dave Blomquist was chosen as PacWest Coach of the Year for the second time in his career at Azusa Pacific.
 
Costa had an outstanding rookie campaign, scoring 13 goals and 12 assists for a total of 38 points on the year. Costa scored a goal in seven straight matches for the Cougars, including a two-goal performance against Hawai'i Hilo. Costa finished in the top-five in the PacWest in goals, points, and assists.
 
Bawa served as the anchor for the Cougar defense throughout the season, starting in 17 games. In 10 of the 17 games Bawa played, Azusa Pacific held its opponent to one goal.
 
Ndubueze broke onto the PacWest scene this year, as he was a central piece of Azusa Pacific's offensive attack. He finished the season with 10 goals and three assists, posting a total of 23 points. Ndubueze had three game-winning goals on the season, including the crucial goal in a 4-3 win over Concordia, a match in which he finished with two goals.
 
Coach David Blomquist was named the PacWest coach of the year, following a season in which he led the Cougars to a perfect 11-0 PacWest record this season. An undefeated PacWest record is something that has only been done one other time in PacWest history, when former member Dixie State finished 13-0 in the conference.
 
Costa, Bawa, and Ndubueze were selected as first team All-PacWest, and were joined by junior forward Arturo Astorga. Astorga finished the year with 10 goals and nine assists, as well as two game-winning goals for the Cougars. His 29 points on the year was second on the team. Azusa Pacific is one of only two NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship qualifiers which enters the tournament with three different players each scoring 10 or more goals.
 
Four Azusa Pacific players received All-PacWest second team recognition, as midfielders Bruno Pagani and Aleksandar Pumpalovic, were joined by defenders Pablo Iles Cruz and Kyle Diaz.
 
Pagani appeared and started in 15 games for the Cougars, scoring a goal, which was a game-winner against Hawai'i Pacific, and distributing three assists during the regular season. Pumpalovic scored a goal and had two assists on the season, while providing leadership for the Cougars as the team captain.
 
Iles Cruz and Diaz served as reliable and consistent pieces to the Cougar defense all season long. Pablo Iles Cruz emerged late in the season for the Cougars, as he appeared in the final nine games of the regular season, starting all but one of those contests. Azusa Pacific was undefeated in the matches which Iles Cruz participated. In his first action of the year, Iles Cruz recorded an assist in a road win against Point Loma. Kyle Diaz finished the season with four assists, as well as a goal scored in the regular season finale against Point Loma, which was his only goal of the season.
 
Freshman midfielder Grégoire Diep rounded out the PacWest honors for the Cougars, as he was named to the all-conference third team. Diep finished the regular season with five goals and two assists. Diep scored two goals and had an assist against Holy Names.
 
Azusa Pacific finished the regular season with an overall record of 16-1-1, earning the second seed in the West region for the 2018 NCAA National Tournament. The Cougars will host a second round game on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 6:00 p.m. Azusa Pacific will face the winner of the match between No. 3-seed Cal State L.A. and No. 6-seed Chico State, which is set for Thursday, Nov. 8 at 7:00 p.m., at the Cougar Soccer Complex on Azusa Pacific's West Campus.