SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Three Santa Clara men's soccer players were named 2024 All-West Coast Conference with defender Naji Elder and midfielder Will Wiersdorf earning second team recognitions while defender Alvaro Gironda garnering honorable mention status. 
  
Elder started all eight games that he appeared in including seven WCC contests during which the Broncos conceded just five goals.  The Dearborn, Michigan native earned the weekly conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for his play against Portland after missing the previous eight games due to an injury.  Against the Pilots, Elder stabilized the Santa Clara back line while seeing 79 minutes of action in the scoreless draw.  In his seven other games, he played the full 90 minutes and logged 709 minutes of action on the season. 
 
Wiersdorf tallied three goals and two assists in 11 matches.  He had an assist in each of the first two games to start the year including on the game-winning goal by Florian Deletioglu in the season opener against UC San Diego.  However, he sustained an arm injury in the second game and missed nearly a month of action.  In his first game back, he scored a goal at CSUN.  The junior midfielder started in all eight WCC matches, playing in all but 10 minutes.  In league play, he scored against Pacific in the 2-1 win and netted the game winner against Gonzaga for the lone goal of the match. 
 
Gironda provided a steady presence from his central defender position starting in all 15 matches he appeared in and logged a team-high 1,323 minutes.  The graduate student from Meco, Spain playing in his only season with the Broncos seized the starting role from the first game and played the full 90 minutes in 14 games.  Against Gonzaga, his quick start assist led to Wiersdorf's game-winning goal in the Broncos 1-0 victory. 
 
Oregon State took home three of the six major awards including Sergi Solanos for the Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year while Arnau Farnos was named Midfielder of the Year.  San Francisco's Reid Roberts won the Defensive Player of the Year and San Diego's Donovan Parisian won Goalkeeper of the Year.  Brian Quinn was named Coach of the Year for leading the Toreros to the WCC Championship.

The all-conference teams and award winners were voted on by the conference's nine head coaches with selection based on the outstanding athletic achievement in overall and league competition.  The WCC All-Conference First Team are comprised by positions.  Specific position designations do not apply to the All-Conference Second Team or honorable mention honors.  There were 12 members on the all-conference second team due to a tie in voting. 

Connect with the Broncos on Social Media
Athletics: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Men's Soccer: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram