DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis senior managerial economics major Roy Boateng was named the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, headlining a list of seven Aggies honored, as the conference office released the league's postseason honor roll as selected by the head coaches on Tuesday afternoon.

Boateng, who became the school's first-ever winner of the Big West's top defensive honor in 2017, becomes only the third player in the history of the conference to repeat as defensive player of the year, joining CSUN's Edwin Miranda (2002-03) and three-time winner, Andy Iro of UC Santa Barbara (2005-07).

Also earning his second consecutive Big West first team honor and becoming the first Aggie to be named to the first team in multiple seasons, Boateng was joined on the All-Big West squad by second-team honorees in sociology major Adam Mickelson and political science major Justin Wright, honorable mention selections in history major Brian Quintero and global disease biology major Wallis Lapsley, and a pair of all-freshman team choices in neurobiology, physiology, and behavior major Robert Mejia and managerial economics major Andy Velasquez.

Mickelson picked up his second straight All-Big West second team honor, while Wright, Quintero, and Lapsley, were all honored by the conference for the first times in their careers.

With their inclusion on the all-freshman team, Mejia and Velasquez became the second UC Davis duo to earn the honor in the same season, joining Evan Barrett and Miguel Acevedo in 2014, and became the sixth and seventh Aggies to be named to the freshman squad since 2013 along with Dashiell MacNamara (2013), Boateng (2015), and Nabi Kibunguchy (2017).

Boateng was one of six Aggies to start all 17 matches, playing in all but three minutes of the 2018 season thus far and leading a defense that allowed the second-fewest goals in the Big West (15), posted the second-lowest goals against average in the conference (0.85), and finished with six shutouts on the year. He also scored a goal in a come-from-behind victory over San Jose State back on Aug. 31.

Mickelson finished the regular season ranked among the top 10 in five major offensive categories, leading the Aggies with 14 points on four goals and six assists — the latter tied for third in a single-season in the program's Division I history and eighth on the all-time list, while his 14 points stand tied for seventh on the Division I list. Starting all 17 matches, the Missoula, Mont., native has scored three points in a match three times this season and enters the Big West Tournament with 29 career points in 38 career matches as an Aggie.

Wright was a force at both ends of the field, contributing to a suffocating UC Davis defense while finishing tied for second on the team with 10 points on three goals and four assists. He scored twice in a 2-1 overtime win over Sacramento State and added his third in a 3-0 win on the road at UC Riverside, while posting assists in each of the team's last two matches against Cal State Fullerton and the Hornets. Wright finished the regular season having scored a point in five of the team's final eight contests.

Also a mainstay in the starting lineup all season, Quintero finished with a goal and two assists on the year, scoring for the first time in his UC Davis career in a victory at CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 2, while adding assists in wins at Gonzaga and UC Riverside. His 16 shots this year were also a career high — three more than in his three previous seasons combined.

Lapsley was one of the top goalkeepers in the Big West this season, finishing the regular season leading the league in save percentage (.841) while standing second in goals against average (0.76), shutouts (6), and total saves (69) — the latter tying the school's single-season Division I record set by Omar Zeenni in 2012. He also enters tournament play ranked seventh in the NCAA in save percentage, 18th in saves overall, 19th in minutes played (1,548:31), 26th in shutouts, and 29th in goals against average.

After sitting out all of 2017, Mejia and Velasquez have had an immediate impact on this year's squad, with Mejia standing tied for second on the team with 10 points on three goals and four assists, ranking among the top 10 in the Big West in points per game (9th), assists (t6th), assists per game (t3rd), and game-winning goals (t3rd).

Velasquez has scored three times on the year to stand fifth on the team in scoring, including the game-winner on his first career goal against San Jose State and adding goals in wins over Santa Clara on Sept. 15 and Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 20.

Posting back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since 2007-08, UC Davis carried a 10-4-3 overall record into Wednesday night's Big West Tournament opener at CSUN, kicking off against the Matadors at 7 p.m. The Aggies, who are the only conference member to reach the tournament in each of the last eight seasons, look to avenge a 3-0 loss at the hands of CSUN back on Oct. 6, but have won two of the three all-time meetings with the Matadors in the league's postseason tournament — including last year's 4-2 victory at home in the semifinals.

2018 ALL-BIG WEST CONFERENCE TEAMS
Offensive Player of the Year: Ivan Canales, UC Irvine
Midfielder of the Year: Daniel Crisostomo, UC Irvine
Goalkeeper of the Year: Henrik Regitnig, CSUN
Defensive Player of the Year: Roy Boateng, UC DAVIS
Coach of the Year: Yossi Raz, UC Irvine
Co-Freshmen of the Year: Benji Kikanovic, Sacramento State & Ben Roach, UC Santa Barbara

FIRST TEAM
Ivan Canales, UC Irvine, Senior, Forward
Sean Goode, Cal Poly, Senior, Forward
Rodney Michael, UC Santa Barbara, Sophomore, Forward
Daniel Trejo, CSUN, Sophomore, Forward
Daniel Aguirre, UC Riverside Sophomore Midfielder Redwood City, Calif.
Daniel Crisostomo, UC Irvine, Senior, Midfielder
Ross McPhie, Cal State Fullerton, Senior, Midfielder
Andrew Rizeq, CSUN, Senior, Midfielder
Hunter Ashworth, UC Santa Barbara, Sophomore, Defender
Noah Billingsley, UC Santa Barbara, Junior, Defender
Roy Boateng, UC Davis, Senior, Defender
Robert Coronado, Cal State Fullerton, Senior, Defender
Henrik Regitnig, CSUN, Senior, Goalkeeper

SECOND TEAM
Samuel Goni, Cal State Fullerton, Senior, Forward
Benji Kikanovic, Sacramento State, Freshman, Forward
Adam Mickelson, UC Davis, Junior, Forward
George Grote, Cal Poly, Junior, Midfielder
Mark Hernandez, Cal State Fullerton, Senior, Midfielder
Jose Ortiz, UC Irvine, Junior, Midfielder
Darren Hamilton, UC Irvine, Senior, Defender
Jumoke Hutton, CSUN, Senior, Defender
Jose Soto, UC Irvine, Senior, Defender
Justin Wright, UC Davis, Senior, Defender
Paul-Andre Guerin, Cal State Fullerton, Junior, Goalkeeper

HONORABLE MENTION
Roberto Garcia, UC Riverside, Sophomore, Forward
Christian Pinzon, Cal State Fullerton, Sophomore, Forward
Alvaro Quezada, UC Irvine, Sophomore, Forward
Giovanni Aguilar, CSUN, Sophomore, Midfielder
Brian Quintero, UC Davis, Senior, Midfielder
Dominic Scotti, Sacramento State, Senior, Midfielder
Samuel Dadzie, CSUN, Junior, Defender
Brecc Evans, Cal Poly, Freshman, Defender
Dusan Keca, UC Riverside, Senior, Defender
Simon Boehme, Cal Poly, Senior, Goalkeeper
Wallis Lapsley, UC Davis, Junior, Goalkeeper

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Zico Bailey, Cal State Fullerton, Midfielder
Daniel Castaneda, UC Riverside, Midfielder
Brecc Evans, Cal Poly, Defender
Oscar Govea, Sacramento State, Midfielder
Benji Kikanovic, Sacramento State, Forward
Robert Mejia, UC Davis, Midfielder
Michael Orozco, UC Irvine, Defender
Wolfgang Prentice, CSUN, Midfielder
Ben Roach, UC Santa Barbara, Goalkeeper
Edward Salazar, Cal State Fullerton, Defender
Andy Velasquez, UC Davis, Midfielder

ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.

AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.