Many members of the PDL Orange County Blue Star team have been making standout contributions to their Division I college teams at the beginning of the 2010 season.

Sophomore forward/midfielder Jose Gomez (#9 MO Valley Top 20) has been doing great things for the Creighton Bluejays campaign and last week he was named the Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Gomez assisted on every goal scored for the Bluejays in their games during the first week of September and now has six assists and two goals. He also scored the Golden goal in Creighton’s 3-2 win over Dartmouth.

In Northern California, California’s sophomore defender Steven Birnbaum has assisted two goals in the first six games. Senior defender and co-captain AJ Soares (#3 Pac-10 Top 20) has also had some impressive accomplishments to start out the season, as he was named Cal Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week as well as Defensive MVP of the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. He also earned Pac-10 Player of the Week earlier this month and has one goal on the season.

At Cal Poly, junior goalkeeper Patrick McLain (#13 Big West Top 20) has had a remarkable season so far. Out of their seven games played he has been scored on a mere two times, has 22 saves and two shutouts. With a .92 save percentage, just last week he had a shutout when the Mustangs faced UCLA. Also contributing to Cal Poly’s defensive efforts are Blue Star players Wes Feighner and Cameron Walters. Walters recently scored the Mustang’s only goal against Notre Dame.

Further down the California coast, at UC Irvine, a host of Blue Star players are leading the Anteaters to great success so far.

Senior Corey Attaway (#17 Big West Top 20) was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week at the beginning of September after helping the UCI defense shutout Gonzaga and Loyola-Chicago. Not one goal was allowed by the Anteaters in either match. He scored both the game-winner against Loyola-Chicago and Wisconsin and also earned the UC Irvine College Classic MVP honors.

Attaway and fellow UCI senior Amani Walker were both named to the Courtyard Marriot San Diego Central All-Tournament Team. Walker now has two goals and one assist, as they head into their seventh game of the 2010-11 schedule.

Junior defender Jimmy Turner has also added one goal for the UC Irvine campaign and 2010 UCI Scholar-Athlete, senior Gray Bailey, has been a huge factor in the Anteater’s victories.

At Connecticut, senior forward Alan Ponce (#13 Big East - Blue Top 20) has been making plays, helping his team to a 6-0-2 record in the Big East Conference. Ponce recently made the First Team and was named MVP of the South Carolina Gamecock Classic. He has five assists and one goal on the season.  

David Ponce, a sophomore forward at Loyola Marymount, has shown to be a value to his squad, with one goal and two assists. Ponce scored his first career goal for the Lions in overtime against Kentucky, to give LMU the 1-0 win.

Over at UCLA, sophomore midfielder Ryan Hollingshead (#4 Pac-10 Top 20) has proved effective for the Bruins with two goals.

The Cal State Fullerton Titans have been using Blue Star players to their advantage too. Although they began with a rocky start, in their last game against Pittsburgh, junior midfielder Kevin Venegas scored a pair of goals to win the game 2-0. Senior forward Oscar Aguero had both assists. The two goals were Venegas’ first for the season. Celso Alvarez has also been a dominant force in the attack.