Bittersweet accolades for men's soccer

The Cal Poly soccer team’s star forward David Zamora was named the 2007 Big West Freshman of the Year, while five other Mustangs received recognition.

Landing on the All-Big West First Team with Zamora was senior defender K.J. Lenehan. Freshman forward/midfielder Kyle Montgomery earned Second Team honors while junior midfielder Anton Peterlin, senior defender Casey Cordray and junior goalkeeper Eric Branagan-Franco received honorable mention.

Leading the record board for the Mustangs this season, Zamora posted six goals and five assists for a combination of 17 points. Zamora, from San Jose, Costa Rica, started the season dominating the field in the exhibition game against California with a hat trick.

During the regular season, Zamora started in all 19 games and helped lead the Mustangs to an 11-4-4 overall record and a 6-2-4 Big West Conference record. In Big West play, Zamora had four goals and two assists for 10 points. He took 27 shots, placing 14 of them on goal.

Ending his Cal Poly career, Lenehan, from Escondido, started in all 19 games on the back line. He posted three assists throughout the season, with two of them in Big West action. Lenehan also leads the Mustangs academically, receiving a spot on the Second-Team ESPN The Magazine All-American Men’s Soccer Team in the University Division.

Montgomery, a Seattle native, was on Zamora’s tail with 15 points this season, six goals and three assists in the 19 games. In Big West play, Montgomery had five goals and two assists for 12 points.

He finished strong, scoring his final goal of the season against Cal State Fullerton, as the Mustangs defeated them 3-1.

As honorable-mention players and the back bone of the defense for the Mustangs, Cordray and Branagan-Franco helped the Mustangs compile 10 shutouts, five in the Big West. Cordray, an Irvine native, started in all 19 games, while Branagan-Franco started in 17 due to an injury. Branagan-Franco, hailing from Napa, ended the season with a .781 save percentage.

Also receiving honorable mention was Peterlin of San Francisco. As a starting midfielder for the Mustangs in every game, Peterlin recorded one assist and managed to place four of his nine shots this season on goal for a .444 shots-on-goal percentage.