Miguel Ibarra: First Team All-American
December 09, 2011 | Men's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. --- Senior midfielder Miguel Ibarra (Lancaster / Taft College) continued the UCI program's standard of excellence by making the first team on the 2011 NSCAA/Continental Tire men's NCAA Division I All-American Team.
Ibarra returns UC Irvine to the team after back-to-back honors in 2008 and 2009 and an absence last season marking the fifth Anteaters to be named All-American.
Ibarra is one of two west coast players to make the first team, both of whom hail from the Big West Conference. You can see the complete list here.
The midfielder that has been described as electric and exciting led the team with nine goals adding eight assists and four game-winners in addition to being the motor to one of the most potent offenses in the nation.
Ibarra joins CoCo Goodson (Ramona / University of Texas) from the women's side who was also named an All-American. The duo is the first pair of men's and women's soccer players to earn All-American status in the same season.
UCI has joined the very elite in the college soccer world by having a player from both the men's and women's side present on the All-American team. UC Irvine is one of six schools to have at least one player on each, and one of four schools (UCLA, Louisville, and North Carolina) to have a player make the first or second team on both lists in addition to having both teams consistently in the top-25 of the RPI throughout the 2011 season.
Ibarra has already earned plenty of publicity as he will participate in the MLS Player Combine in early January as well as a potential pick in the SuperDraft.
The 35 athletes will be recognized at the annual All-America Luncheon, to be held in the Kansas City Convention Center's Grand Ballroom on Saturday, Jan. 14, in conjunction with the 2012 NSCAA Convention in Kansas City, Mo.
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