Wingate University Athletics

2016: Damian Gaona earned Academic All-America and All-American accolades during his junior season…The third team Academic All-America honoree was a third team D2CCA All-American…Started all 20 matches for the national champs, finishing second on the team among field players with 1,630 minutes played…Registered an assist while playing a huge role in one of the best defenses in Division II history…Wingate allowed only eight goals in 20 matches, registering 12 shutouts while never allowing multiple goals in a game…Helped the ‘Dogs go all five NCAA Tournament games without allowing a goal…Wingate allowed just 6.6 shots per game by opponents…During the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs shutout the nation’s top-ranked offense in Pfeiffer, second-ranked offense in Charleston, seventh-ranked offense in Limestone and 23rd-ranked offense in Tampa.

2015: Gaona earned second team All-SAC honors during his sophomore season at Wingate…Appeared in all 22 games, making 19 starts for the league’s best defense…Finished second on the team with 1729 minutes played…Played a huge role in a Wingate defense that led the conference in goals-against average and shutouts…The ‘Dogs allowed just 0.79 goals per contest, while surrendering a league-low nine goals in conference games…Gaona registered an assist in the 4-0 victory against Catawba.

2014: Gaona appeared in 18 games during his first season at Wingate, starting nine contests…He registered four assists on the year…Collected three assists in Wingate’s 4-0 victory at Queens…Had an assist in the 3-0 win against Lincoln Memorial…Started the last seven games of the year for the Bulldogs, including three SAC Tournament matches and two NCAA Tournament contests…Member of the 2015 SAC Honor Roll. 

Personal:
Full name is Pablo Damian Gaona Cifuentes...Born February 20, 1995 in Santiago, Chile...Son of Ana Cifuentes and Pablo Gaona...Majoring in Biology...Wants to be a biotechnology expert after...Favorite class at Wingate: Biology...Favorite athlete: Pirlo...Favorite sports team: none...Favorite movie: 300...Favorite TV Show: Two and a Half Men...Favorite Sport to play other than soccer: Volleyball...Damian can't imagine a week without: Football (soccer)...Most thrilling sports moment: Chile vs Spain at the 2014 FIFA World Cup...People Damian most admires: Pirlo...How Damian gets ready for amatch: Focusing on what I have to do...Nickname: Damian...

Why Damian chose Wingate: It's the mix of sports and classes I wanted. And it has real good facilities.