CORVALLIS, Ore. – After leading Rocky Mountain College to win the 2020 Cascade Collegiate Conference East Division Championship with an unblemished record, Milo Downey was named the Player of the Year to highlight the 2020 postseason conference awards, released Tuesday.
With the unusual nature of the 2020 season being played in the spring of 2021, the conference was divided into two divisions – East and West. Awards voted on for Defensive and Offensive Players of the Year for each division following the conclusion of the regular season. Coaches then voted on the overall Player of the Year based on the four top division honors.
Rocky Mountain College’s Milo Downey picked up East Division Defensive Player of the Year along with the overall Player of the Year honors. Warner Pacific University’s Troy Ready was named the CCC Coach of the Year, while Hunter VanCleave grabbed West Division Defensive Player of the Year. Carroll College’s Santiago Morazzani picked up East Division Offensive Player of the Year and Corban University’s Matheus Giron was tabbed West Division Offensive Player of the Year after helping the Warriors win the West Division Championship.
Downey, a six-foot junior midfielder, helped the Battlin’ Bears claim the East with an 8-0 overall and CCC record. He started all eight games for RMC, scoring four goals and assisting on three others. The Colchester, England, native scored two goals and had an assist in Rocky’s 9-0 victory over Multnomah University.
Ready took over the program in 2017 and led WPU to its best finish since 2009 with an 11-3 overall, 7-3 CCC mark this year. While the fate of the Knights is still up in the air, they are hopeful for an at-large bid to the NAIA championship. Under Ready, the Knights boast a 2.86 goals per game average (third in the CCC) and 1.14 goals against average (fifth in the CCC).
VanCleave, a six-foot senior defender, has played a major part in WPU’s success, helping the Knights limit opponents to 16 goals this year for a 1.14 team goals against average (fifth-best in the CCC). The Missoula, Mont., native also knows how to get into the offensive third and has scored once and grabbed three assists. One of his assists was the game-winner in WPU’s 1-0 victory over Oregon Tech.
Morazzani, a six-foot-one junior midfielder, led Carroll to a 4-2-2 overall and conference record. In eight games, he scored 10 goals (third in CCC) and assisted once. Two of his goals have proved to be game-winners and he ranks in multiple categories in the NAIA, including third in shots per game (5.38), sixth in goals per game (1.25), 11
th in points per game (2.63) and 28
th in shots on goal per game (2.13).
Giron, a five-foot-nine senior midfielder, led No. 19-ranked Corban to an 8-1-1 overall, 6-1-1 conference mark to claim the West Division Championship and an automatic qualifier to the NAIA Championship. The 2019 CCC Newcomer of the Year has kept momentum rolling into his second season with Corban, scoring 12 goals so far, with almost half proving to be game-winners. The Sao Paulo, Brazil, native ranks in multiple categories nationally: third in points per game (3.00), fourth in game-winning goals per game (0.50), sixth in total game-winning goals (5), 10
th in goals per game (1.200), 11
th in shots on goal per game (2.60), 13
th in shots per game (4.40), 23
rd in assists per game (0.60), 24
th in total points (30), and 26
th in total goals (12).
The two champion teams each saw six players earn All-Cascade Collegiate Conference honors, with Rocky placing five athletes on the first team. Corban had four Warriors earn first-team distinction.
HERE is the complete list of 2020 award winners and all-conference honorees. Honorable mention was awarded to players who had at least two votes from the CCC Men’s Soccer Head Coaches.