PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College sophomore forward Alex Martinez is the 2013 Baden Soccer Player of the Year as the top men’s soccer player in the NWAACC.
Martinez, of Reno, Nev., put together an MVP season this year, leading the NWAACC in goals with 28, including the game-winner in the 87th minute to propel the Pirates to a 1-0 win over Clark in the NWAACC championship match.
This came a year after Martinez scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Walla Walla in the final minutes of the 2012 title match.
Martinez’s 28 goals, along with 21 he scored for Peninsula in 2012, gave him 49 for his career, which ties the all-time Peninsula College career scoring mark set by Miguel Gonzalez from 2010-11.
Martinez also contributed 10 assists this season, finishing with 23 for his career.
He was named the West Division MVP as well as the NWAACC Championship MVP, and he is a two-time NWAACC West Region All-Star.
“Alex is a competitor who wants to win,” Pirates coach Andrew Chapman said, “which was evident in the championship games this year and last year, with him scoring the game-winning goal with three minutes left in both games. Alex doesn’t stop working all game long.”
“He had a great two years for us,” Chapman added. “To have a consistent goal scorer like Alex is huge.”
Martinez currently is being courted by a number of colleges and universities across the nation and is expected to make his decision on where he will play his final two years of collegiate soccer in the coming months.
