By: Cody Bush, Associate Commissioner / Strategic Communications
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – South Dakota Mines freshman Erik Castanon, along with Colorado State University Pueblo midfielder Leonardo Vilchis and goalkeeper Esteban Gonzalez, are the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s men’s soccer individual award winners following the second week of the 2025 season.
Castanon scored his first collegiate goal and added a goal against Division I Air Force in a five-point week for the Hardrockers. Vilchis and Gonzalez led a ThunderWolves defensive effort that posted back-to-back road shutouts and has not allowed a goal in its first four games of the season.
Offensive
Erik Castanon, South Dakota Mines (Freshman, Forward, Fort Worth, Texas)
Castanon finished the week with two goals and an assist as the Hardrockers downed Dakota Wesleyan, 5-1, before picking up a tie against Division I Air Force, 1-1. His first collegiate goal was the game-winning goal in South Dakota Mines' victory at Dakota Wesleyan, and he assisted on another goal. Two days later, he put the Hardrockers out front with the game’s first goal at the 37th minute – a lead they would hold on to until the 83rd minute despite being a man down most of the second half.
Others Nominated: Matty Parkes, CSU Pueblo; Justin Ibrahim, Colorado Mesa; Lucas Taitt, Colorado School of Mines; Alessio Andreottola, Fort Lewis; Adan Perez, MSU Denver; Rayhan Carlson-du Toit, MSU Denver; Eduardo Macias, UCCS.
Defensive
Leonardo Vilchis, CSU Pueblo (Graduate, Midfielder, Mexico City, Mexico)
Vilchis led a CSU Pueblo defense that posted a pair of shutouts during the week, leading to a scoreless tie against No. 22 Fort Hays State and a 2-0 win against Dominican (Calif.). In the matchup between nationally-ranked teams, Vilchis and the ThunderWolves fended off 10 shots and five shots on goal in the scoreless affair. He then tallied an assist and played 73 minutes in the 2-0 victory with CSU Pueblo allowing 10 shots but only two on goal.
Others Nominated: Jonah Elstad, Colorado Mesa; Charlie Newberry, Colorado School of Mines; Ben Wittenbernds, Regis; Jacob Miklas, South Dakota Mines.
Goalkeeper
Esteban Gonzalez, CSU Pueblo (Junior, Goalkeeper, Brussels, Belgium)
Gonzalez earned back-to-back clean sheets as CSU Pueblo battled to a scoreless tie against nationally-ranked Fort Hays State and notched a 2-0 win against Dominican (Calif.). Gonzalez posted five saves against the Tigers for the tie in the ThunderWolves first road match of the season. He followed that with two saves in the neutral field win against Dominican. Gonzalez has not allowed a goal in three outings this season, recording 12 saves.
Others Nominated: Nathan Beck, Colorado Mesa; Nick McNeil, MSU Denver; Zach Jennings, Regis; Abdo Salem Abdullah, South Dakota Mines. .
About the RMAC
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 institutions located in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. The RMAC currently competes in 22 NCAA Division II sports and has earned 67 national championships and 53 national runners-up since 1992. Founded in 1909, the RMAC is the most historic athletic conference in the western United States and Division II.
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