By Gabriel Luis (@gabelun):
When the Western Athletic Conference season awards were announced, something really stood out.
Out of the 22 spots for both first and second–team honors, 15 players were chosen from the top three schools in the conference, but only one was awarded to fourth place San Jose State.
Even then, the only award given to San Jose State was the second–team honor awarded to junior defender Andy Rios.
San Jose State only received one award for the season yet players from bottom table teams such as Utah Valley and Kansas City were awarded with more honors on first and second teams.
Senior forward Jeremy Romero, who has been SJSU’s leading goal scorer for the entire season, was snubbed from being awarded a first or second team award.
Romero placed sixth in the WAC in points per game with 0.95 average and has proved his ability on the pitch.
The second-team list included senior forward Payton Karson from Utah Valley, who finished the season with a meager three goals and two assists in 18 games.
After looking at the two individuals, there is almost no comparison when looking at the players’ statistics.
Karson has a total of 39 shots taken, leading to his 0.077 shot percentage compared to Romero, who has taken fewer shots this season, but scored six more goals than the Utah Valley forward, giving Romero a conversion rate of 0.243.
Although Karson has taken two more shots this season compared to Romero, Karson still has a lower shot-on-goal count at 16, with Romero having 19.
There were a total of 57 honors awarded to individuals this season, and Romero was only given an honorable mention.
Romero was not the best compared to the other top forwards in the league, but still held his own throughout the season, playing a very important role in pushing SJSU to the fourth seed.
The striker proved his worth more than ever in the conference tournament semi-finals with a wonder-header off of a long free kick which sent undefeated Air Force packing and sent his team to the finals.
At the end of the day, his abilities on the field throughout the season have proven time and time again that he is capable of helping SJSU win games, and there is no denying that.
But getting an honorable mention, especially after a player on the second team that was unable to perform as well as Romero, is just unfair.