Nov. 30, 2006
A pair of University of New Mexico men’s soccer players were honored with all-region recognition by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America today. Senior Andrew Boyens and sophomore Brandon Barklage were both named to the All-Far West Region teams.
Boyens, a defender from Dunedin, New Zealand, earned all-region recognition for the third time in his career. He was named to the first team after scoring two goals and three assists while guiding the Lobo defense to a 0.64 goals-against-average and 11 shutouts this season. The 2006 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year and Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, Boyens is just the fourth Lobo to earn all-region honors three times, joining Justin Sells (1994-97), Brandon Moss (2002-05) and Lance Watson (2002-05).
Barklage, a midfielder from St. Louis, Mo., was named to the All-Far West Region third team after finishing second on the team in scoring with 10 points on three goals and four assists.
Boyens was also named as one of 58 players selected for the 2007 adidas MLS Player Combine. The annual player combine will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Jan. 5-8, 2007. The coaching staffs and general managers from all 13 MLS teams will be in attendance to scout talent at the 2007 adidas MLS Player Combine, which concludes four days before the 2007 MLS SuperDraft. The 2007 MLS SuperDraft will be held on Friday, Jan. 12, 2007 in Indianapolis, Ind. in conjunction with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Convention at the Indiana Convention Center.
The initial list of players for this year’s combine was determined by a select panel of Division I college coaches representing all conferences who nominated and voted for players in conjunction with MLS coaches.
Boyens is the eighth Lobo to be invited to the MLS Player Combine, seventh in the last three years. Jeff Krause, Pat Grange and Hans Bevers participated in 2005 while Jeff Rowland, Brandon Moss and Lance Watson were invited to the combine last year. Justin Sells (1994-97) also played in the 1997 Powerade College All-Star game and the college combine following his senior year at New Mexico.