O'Brien earns All-Big West soccer honors

Decatur High School graduate Ciaran O’Brien was named to the All-Big West Conference’s First Team after a very impressive first season on the University of California-Santa Barbara soccer team.

The transfer from the University of San Diego proved to be an excellent addition for UCSB, tallying seven goals and a conference-best nine assists for 23 total points, which was second on the team.

The native of Federal Way was a big reason why the Gauchos went through a stretch in November with seven straight wins. O’Brien scored five goals and dished out five assists over that span.

In fact, O’Brien has either scored or assisted on 10 of Santa Barbara’s last 17 goals overall. He was named the Big West Player of the Week three times this season and also earned Soccer America and College Soccer News national team of the week honors on three occasions.

Santa Barbara, the defending NCAA champions, lost last week to Ohio State in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The Gauchos ended the season 13-4-4 overall. O’Brien finished with seven goals and team-leading 11 assists.

• The Federal Way Red Angels, a under-8 Federal Way Mod Soccer Club girls soccer team, participated in the Tacoma Narrows Jamboree last month and finished with a 2-0-1 record.

The Red Angels include Morgan Kreckman, Hannah Wolf, Hannah Shires, Simone Shires, Sydney McDaniels, Bryn Mader and Natalie Raflowski. The team is coached by Jay Wolf.

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