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Nov. 11, 2005

The West Texas A&M University men's soccer team had a total of six players receive All-Southwest Soccer Conference honors, placing three on the first-team list, while three others received honorable mention recognition, selected by the league's head coaches and announced Friday (Nov. 11) by the conference office.

Senior forward Josh Fender, sophomore defender Kenneth Christensen and freshman midfielder Tom Nutter were named to the first-team list, while senior midfielder Omar Morales, sophomore Tomer Otor and freshman midfielder Antonio Barrera received honorable mention accolades.

WTAMU finished the season with an 11-8 overall and 10-4 SSC record on the season. The Buffs ended the season with a 6-1 home record after last Saturday's 9-1 rout of border-rival Eastern New Mexico University in the season finale.

Fender, a 6-4 midfielder from Richardson, Texas, had a hat trick in that match, giving him 18 for the season and 52 for his career, as he leaves No. 2 on the WTAMU Career scoring list, behind Danny Cazalas' 69 goals from 1991-94. Fender led the SSC in goals, goals per game (0.95), points (42), points per game (2.21) and ranked tied for second in assists with six. Fender, who was named the SSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, received first-team SSC honors for the second season in a row. Fender earned third-team NSCAA/adidas All-American honors last season after leading WTAMU with a career-high 14 goals and four assists for 32 points. Fender was also a first-team All-Midwest Region selection.

Senior forward Josh Fender earned first-team All-SSC honors for the second straight season, as he was one of three Buffs on the first-team and one of six WTAMU players on the All-Conference list.

He is the third player in WTAMU men's soccer history to earn All-American honors, joining Collin Mabry in 2002 and Davy Arnaud (now playing for Kansas City in Major League Soccer) in 2001.

Christensen, a 6-1 sophomore defender and a native of Hendensten, Denmark, was third on the team with four goals and tied for third with three assists for 11 points, as well as anchoring a defense that had a 1.46 goals against average and six shutouts, including four in the first five matches of the season. Christensen was 2-of-2 on penalty kick goals. This is the second year in a row for Christensen to receive SSC honors, as he was named to the honorable mention list last season.

Nutter, a 5-11 freshman midfielder hailing from Datchet, Berkshire, England, tallied three goals and had three assists for nine points.

Freshman forward Tom Nutter was one of three Buffs on the first-team All-SSC list, and part of six WTAMU players to receive all-conference recognition.

Morales, a 5-8 senior midfielder from El Paso, Texas, posted three goals and one assist for seven points. In his four year career at WTAMU, Morales totaled 23 points including four goals and 15 assists, tying for the team lead with eight assists last season. In his four years, Morales played in 73 of the Buffs' total 74 matches, only missing one match last season.

Otor, a 5-9 sophomore midfielder and a native of Holon, Israel, did not score any goals, but tied Fender for the team lead and tied for second in the SSC with six assists. This is the second season in a row for Otor to lead the Buffs in assists, as tied Morales with eight last season. His 14 assists is on pace to surpass the WTAMU Career Assists record of 25 by Cazalas from 1991-94.

Barrera, a 5-7 freshman midfielder from Guasave, Mexico, posted two goals and two assists for six points.

The University of Incarnate Word and Midwestern State University, which split the conference championship, each had four players on the first-team, and the teams also split the Coach of the Year Award, as UIW's Mike Jeffries and MSU's Doug Elder were recognized. UIW swept the player awards, as Fernando Jorge was the Offensive Player of the Year and Kevin Langan was the Defensive Player of the Year, while Miguel Hurtado was the Freshman of the Year.

Incarnate Word is the league's lone representative in the NCAA-II Tournament, as the Cardinals were chosen to the Midwest Regional.

-WT-