SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The West Coast Conference officially announced the conference's major awards for the 2023 men's soccer season on Wednesday morning.
 
For San Francisco, six Dons earned honors from the conference this year - Eric Waltz (Goalkeeper of the Year WCC Honorable Mention), Gabriel Bracken Serra (WCC All-Conference First Team), Reid Roberts (WCC All-Conference First Team), Max Hamelink (WCC Honorable Mention), Chris Maldonado (WCC All-Freshman Team) and Rylan Smith (WCC All-Freshman Team).
 
"I am pleased with the postseason awards and our players were very deserving," said head coach Chris Brown. "It is a testament to good seasons from multiple players. The team showed a lot of progress this year, which in turn showed in these postseason awards."
 
Beginning with Waltz, the San Jose native was dominant throughout the season, but played his best down the stretch in conference play. Within the WCC, Waltz finished tied for first in shutouts (6), third in goals against average (.848), fourth in saves (45) and fourth in save percentage (.763). Notably, the redshirt junior recorded back-to-back shutouts on the road at Pacific on Oct. 21 and at Santa Clara on Oct. 25.
 
"Eric was solid for us all year and had his best games in conference," said Brown. "His GAA was well under .94 and he had three shutouts in conference. He was a leader in only allowing one set piece goal all season. We are excited to see what he can do this offseason to come back even better next year. It's been a while since the program has seen a Goalkeeper of the Year and this will make him even hungrier."
 
Attacking with every opportunity, Bracken Serra displayed his skillset in his return from injury this fall, which included finishing tied for sixth in the WCC in goals (6). Alongside teammate Olivier Sylvain, Bracken Serra guided the green and gold offensively all year as his 35 total shots was good for seventh in the conference while his 14 shots on goal tied him for eighth against his WCC opponents. Aside from scoring, the Berkeley native also impressed by spreading the wealth as he tied for seventh in the conference in assists (5). Overall, his 17 points on the year was also good for sixth in the WCC.
 
"Gabe played some of his best soccer in our biggest games," said Brown. "He showed his quality in big wins over Stanford, Cal and LMU. We are excited to see Gabe put together another strong year next year and come back as one of the best midfielders in the conference and hopefully lead us to a WCC title.
 
Becoming a nightmare matchup for opposing offenses each week, Roberts has grown into one of the best defenders in the nation over the past few months. As the only underclassman selected to the conference's First Team, he helped lead one of the WCC's strongest backlines and led the country in defensive duels won. Starting and playing in all 17 of San Francisco's matches this fall, Roberts finished second on the team in total minutes (1,506) as he was a workhorse for the Dons all season.
 
"Reid was the only underclassmen that made the first team and one of only three defenders," said Brown. "He played out of position all year and led a backline that was second in defense in the conference. He finished the year very strong and led the country in defensive duels. We are excited to have Reid back to lead one of the conference's best back lines."
 
After earning All-WCC Second Team honors last fast, Hamelink impressed for the Dons once again in 2023. Starting and playing in all 17 matches for USF, the graduate student finished second on the team in points (6), tied for second in goals (2), third in shots (32) and shots on goal (13) as well as fourth in total minutes (1,428). Notably, Hamelink scored the game-winning goal for San Francisco twice this season- first against Utah Tech in the season opener on Aug. 24 and then on the road at Pacific on Oct. 21.
 
"Max has made this program so much better," said Brown. "He was an exceptional captain and did so much work that went unseen. He put two really fantastic years together. He will be missed."
 
Making immediate impacts upon their arrival on the Hilltop, Maldonado and Smith played key roles for the Dons in 2023.
 
For Smith, the Littleton, Colo. native appeared in all 17 games for USF this season, which included 16 starts. Improving alongside Roberts on the backline, Smith totaled 1,204 minutes on the pitch this fall. Notably, he scored his first collegiate goal in USF's 2-1 win over Detroit Mercy on Aug. 27.
 
For Maldonado, the first year Don appeared in 16 of USF's matches in 2023, which included making two starts. Tallying 11 shots, four shots on goal and three total points, Maldonado also found the back of the net for the first time at the collegiate level on the road at Air Force on Sept. 23. Notably, he also recorded his first collegiate assist against the Falcons that same night.
 
"Rylan and Chris both showed their potential this year and will only get better," said Brown. "I also thought we had two freshmen who were deserving to be on the freshmen team in Alex Solomis and Kaleb Afsari."
 
Looking at the rest of the roster, Brown was also proud of a few other student-athletes after an impressive fall: "Olivier Sylvain and Ramon Munoz Jr. were two guys who I felt should have been on this list. Ramon finished the year very strong and Olivier was one of the nation's best defensive midfielders when it came to defensive duels and ground covered, which included playing all but nine minutes this season. Olivier will be back better than ever next year as we return a very strong group in 2024."

To view the full 2023 WCC Men's Soccer Conference Awards, please click here. 
 
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's soccer program, be sure to follow @USFDonsMSoccer on Twitter, @USFDonsMensSoccer on Instagram and @USFDonsMSoccer on Facebook.