PHILADELPHIA, PA - After an impressive 2006 season, junior soccer player Jeremy Ortiz (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) was recently chosen by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America(NSCAA) as a First Team All-Mid Atlantic Region honoree.

Ortiz was up against a region consisting of the Atlantic 10 teams, as well as the Patriot League. It is an impressive award for the junior, who put La Salle as one of 16 schools receiving honors, eight of them making the first team. He sits beside players from Richmond, Lehigh, UNC-Charlotte, St. Louis, Duquesne, Rhode Island, and Holy Cross.

He joins eight other Explorers to be honored with the All-Region award in the 20 years Coach Farrell has been leading the team. The most recent honorees were assistant coach Stash Graham, who was awarded in 2004, and Kevin Coleman, who received the award two years consecutively in 2003 and 2004.

Ortiz had six goals and 16 points this season with the Explorers, contributing four assists and starting in all of his 17 games played.