Pac-12 announces Men's Soccer All-Conference honors

SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 Conference announced today the men’s soccer All-Pac-12 honors for the 2018 season, as selected by a polling of the Conference coaches. Stanford’s Tanner Beason was voted Pac-12 Player of the Year and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, marking the first time a player has won both awards since the inception of the defensive award in 2014. Oregon State’s Sofiane Djeffal was tabbed Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and first-year OSU head coach Terry Boss was voted Pac-12 Coach of the Year. The All-Pac-12 teams were also announced.

Pac-12 Player of the Year / Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year – Tanner Beason, RS Jr., D, Stanford
Stanford’s Tanner Beason (Winston-Salem, N.C.) was tabbed the Pac-12 Men’s Soccer Player of the Year and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year after leading Stanford to its fifth-straight Conference title. Started all 18 games this season and anchored the Cardinal’s defense that boasts the best goals-against average (0.573) in the Conference, which also ranks eighth nationally. Beason finished the regular season with six goals, five assists, 32 shots and the seventh-most points in the Pac-12 with 17. Beason helped Stanford earn the No. 9 overall seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming 2018 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.

Beason tallied two Pac-12 Player of the Week honors this season (Nov. 6, Oct. 9) and recognition on a pair of national teams of the week, College Soccer News National Team of the Week (Oct. 8) and Top Drawer National Team of the Week (Nov. 6). Beason is the Cardinal’s third-straight Pac-12 Player of the Year recipient and the sixth winner in program history. Stanford has now swept all five Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year awards with the inclusion of Beason’s honor following Brandon Vincent (2014, 2015) and former teammate Tomas Hilliard-Arce (2016, 2017).

Pac-12 Freshman of the Year – Sofiane Djeffal, Fr., M, Oregon State
Oregon State’s Sofiane Djeffal (Nantes, France) started all 18 games in his rookie campaign and brought a new level of creativity to the Beavers’ midfield. In his first season as a Beaver, he helped Oregon State finish second in the Pac-12 Conference with a 6-3-1 league mark and a 10-5-3 overall record. Djeffall tallied four goals on the season, including one game-winner, and tacked on seven assists for the most in the Pac-12. Djeffal records Oregon State’s fifth Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honor and first since Timmy Mueller in 2014. Djeffall helped Oregon State earn a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the program’s fourth overall appearance (2014, 2003, 2002).

Pac-12 Coach of the Year – Terry Boss, Oregon State
First-year head coach Terry Boss led Oregon State (10-5-3, 6-3-1) to a second-place finish in the Pac-12 standings and a berth in the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time is school history. Boss guided Oregon State to its second-highest Conference win total (six) in team history and matched its best league finish in the Conference history. His roster featured 21 newcomers, including 15 freshmen, which he and his staff molded into four Pac-12 Player of the Week awards this season for the program’s most weekly honors in a single season. The local Philomath, Ore., native is the first Beaver head coach to win the award since Dana Taylor in 2002 when OSU made its first postseason appearance.

2018 MEN’S SOCCER ALL-PAC-12
FIRST TEAM