2021 All-PacWest Teams

IRVINE, Calif. – Two members of Academy of Art men's soccer have earned recognition by the Pacific West Conference for their play in the 2021 fall campaign, as senior forward Adrian Cekala was named to the All-PacWest Second Team while freshman defender Bilal Mihoubi was selected to the All-PacWest Third Team, making it the second consecutive season the two have earned conference honors.

After Cekala and Mihoubi found themselves on the All-PacWest NorCal Team in the shortened spring 2020 season, the pair became the second and third players in program history to be an All-PacWest Team honoree in consecutive seasons (joining Kristof Urbanyi who did so in 2014 and 2015). Additionally, they join Urbanyi and Thorvaldur Sveinsson (2011, 2013) as the only four players to twice be named to an All-PacWest team in their careers.

It was a stellar end to a phenomenal ART U career for Cekala, setting his career-high in goals during a season with seven, which is also tied for the third-most single-season goals in program history. Named the PacWest Player of the Week on Nov. 8, by season's end Cekala had become the only 20-goal and 40-point scorer in ART U history, originally breaking the Urban Knights records for both goals and points when he scored a goal during ART U's match against Hilo for his 17th goal and 39th point. Four of Cekala's tallies came via the penalty kick, as he converted all four of his opportunities he had in 2021, breaking yet another pair of Urban Knights records for penalty kicks both in a season (four) and in a career (6-for-7; also most attempts in a career). With a pair of game-winning goals in the final two matches of the year, he now has a total of five game winners in his career which is third in program history.  

"Adrian capped off an impressive senior year on his way to rewriting the ART U record books and has been crucial to our attacking play this season," said ART U Assistant Coach Danny Kirkland. "Since joining us in 2018, Adrian has been superb to work with during his time at our school and always leads by example, on and off the field. He can be proud of his achievements with us and I'm pleased that he has received the recognition that he deserves from other PacWest programs."

Named the PacWest Defender of the Week on Nov. 8, Mihoubi appeared and started in 14 games for the Knights, playing every minute of those contests to wind up with the fifth-most minutes on the Knights (1,290). Known as a shutdown defender and one of the main anchors to the ART U back line, not only did he contribute to a pair of shutouts, Mihoubi scored his first career goal in a 4-0 win over Chaminade on Nov. 4. It would be his his only goal of the season for two points, though he did fire a total of seven shots on the year (two of which were on goal). 

"Bilal has made a very impressive start to his career at ART U," Kirkland said. "As a young player coming in, he is versatile and has cemented his position as a starter in our back line. Bilal has done well to earn this recognition and his place on the third team, and must now continue to build o the achievement throughout his career with us."