ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – The 2024 All-CCAA Men's Soccer All-Conference individual awards were announced on Wednesday. Three members of the Cal State East Bay men's soccer program were named All-CCAA Honorable Mention, including Drew Gibbons, Alan Gutierrez and Eugenio Perez-Vera Merino.
CCAA postseason awards are nothing new to Gibbons. The 2024 season marks the third consecutive year in which Gibbons was named All-CCAA Honorable Mention. He is a leader on the Pioneers and has started all 18 matches in 2024. Despite not scoring a goal, Gibbons' leadership role was very vital in the run by the Pioneers into the CCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
In his first season at East Bay, Gutierrez was one of two Pioneers with three goals after starting 18 matches. On October 6, he scored the game winner and added an assist in a 3-1 win at Sonoma State. Facing nationally-ranked Cal State LA, his penalty kick goal in the first half and equalizing header in the 83rd minute helped the Pioneers play to a 3-3 draw for a point in the standings which proved to be important at the end of the regular season.
Also playing his first season at East Bay was Perez-Vera Merino. The junior defender from Leon, Spain led the Pioneers in minutes (1,591) and started all 18 matches, playing all 90 minutes in 16 of them. In the CCAA opener on October 4 at Cal Poly Humboldt, he found the net for his first goal as a Pioneer in a 2-1 win. A week later, he scored a goal against Cal Poly Humboldt.
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