Lasers Light Up All-OEC Men's Soccer Selections for 2025

In a year where ANY team could've won the Orange Empire Conference in men's soccer, 2025 was the year of Irvine Valley College. After dethroning two-time conference champion, Fullerton College, the Lasers were well rewarded with several All-OEC selections, as voted on by the conference's coaches.

This year's Most Valuable Player went to IVC's sophomore midfielder, Cristian Sanchez, the heart and soul of the Laser program, who helped lead his team to a 10-3-1 conference record (13-7-1 overall). His two-way play in all 21 contests (21 starts) helped pave the way for several of his teammates to join him on this year's team of all-stars.

Offensive Player of the Year honors went to IVC's Armin Tehrani. The sophomore forward led the OEC in conference points with 19, thanks to six goals and seven assists.

Defensive Player of the Year was earned by Cypress College's Jesse Gonzalez. The freshman defender anchored a Charger defense that led the OEC in fewest goals allowed (9) in 14 hard-fought conference contests.

First-team, All-OEC honors for Irvine Valley went to freshman Cade Williams (1 goal, 1 assist) and Michael Baumgaertel (6 goals, 1 assist) and sophomores Ethan Kofi-Adu-Gyamfi (1 goal, 1 assist) and Tristan Amezcua (1 goal).

Cypress, conference runners-up to the Lasers, had a trio of first-team selections, including Issac Morales (6 goals, 4 assists), Dominick Resendiz (top Cypress defender) and Joaquin Araneda (1 goal, 1 assist), who helped lead the way for the Chargers' impressive 9-2-3 OEC record (13-3-5 overall).

Third-place Fullerton (7-2-5 in OEC, 8-6-7 overall), selected sophomores Andrew Arreola (3 goals), Francisco Torres (solid defense, 1 assist) and Jarrod Rodriguez (1 goal) to this year's First-Team squad.

Other first-team selections were Trevor Jones (Golden West), Luis Cano (Golden West), Gus Roetcisoender (Saddleback), Jefreyn Contreras (Saddleback), Orlando Virgen (Santa Ana), Raul Vazquez (Santa Ana), Logan Yapelli (Orange Coast) and Diego Saldivar (Santiago Canyon).

Coach of the Year honors went to Irvine Valley College's third-year head coach, Conor Ward, his first OEC Coach of the Year selection of his brief head coaching career.

2025 MEN'S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE

Orange Empire MVP: Cristian Sanchez, Irvine Valley

Offensive Player of the Year: Armin Tehrani, Irvine Valley
Defensive Player of the Year: Jesse Gonzalez, Cypress
Coach-of-the-Year: Conor Ward, Irvine Valley

First Team Selections
Cade Williams, Irvine Valley

Ethan Kofi Adu-Gyamfi, Irvine Valley

Tristan Amezcua, Irvine Valley

Michael Baumgaertel, Irvine Valley

Issac Morales, Cypress

Dominick Resendiz, Cypress

Joaquin Araneda, Cypress

Andrew Arreola, Fullerton

Francisco Torres, Fullerton

Jarrod Rodriguez, Fullerton

Trevor Jones, Golden West

Luis Cano, Golden West

Gus Roetcisoender, Saddleback

Jefreyn Contreras, Saddleback

Orlando Virgen, Santa Ana

Raul Vazquez, Santa Ana

Logan Yapelli, Orange Coast

Diego Saldivar, Santiago Canyon

Second Team Selections
Isaac Nixon, Irvine Valley

Sungho Yun, Irvine Valley

Andrew Roldan, Irvine Valley

Jacob De La Rosa, Cypress

Erik Hernandez, Cypress

Alex Gomez, Jr., Cypress

Josiahs Palacios, Fullerton

Bryant Polmounter, Fullerton

Damian Buenrostro, Golden West

Arnold Ramirez, Golden West

Diego De La Riva, Saddleback

Christoph Lutkemeyer, Saddleback

Enrique Ugalde, Santa Ana

Carlos Valentin, Santa Ana

Collin Lacher, Orange Coast

Erik Martinez, Orange Coast

Sam Everakes, Santiago Canyon

Braydon Cerminelli, Santiago Canyon

*Story by Tony Altobelli, Orange Coast College