Cypress College's Chloe Imperiali of the women's soccer team and Fullerton College's Misael Gonzalez of the men's soccer team have been recognized as the 2023-24 Orange Empire Conference (OEC) Character Champions.

The award is granted to the student-athletes who displays the values of sportsmanship, respect, care, fairness, civility, honesty, integrity and responsibility shown through a specific action, ideally directed toward an opponent during competition.

Chloe Imperiali, a student-athlete on the Cypress women's soccer team has excelled academically, maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA and earning recognition on the Dean's List and President's List in each of her three semesters. Despite the demanding schedule of a collegiate student-athlete, Chloe has consistently demonstrated outstanding leadership, citizenship, and effort in all aspects of her life.

On the field, Chloe's leadership as team captain was instrumental in leading the Chargers to a 2023 3C2A State Championship Runner-Up finish. Her individual achievements include being selected to the 2023 All Orange Empire Conference First Team and the 2023 United Soccer Coaches Association All-West Region Team.

Off the field, Chloe has been actively involved in the community by participating in the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, representing Cypress College as the female nominee for the NATYCAA Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, and mentoring at the local Rising Above Disabilities (RAD) summer camp. Additionally, Chloe has served as a soccer coach at Brea Olinda High School, where she has been an assistant varsity women's soccer coach and head frosh/soph women's soccer coach.

Chloe's journey to success has not been without challenges. She has battled through two significant ACL injuries in 2019 and 2021. During her recovery, Chloe created an Instagram account to document her journey back to the field to inspire others facing similar setbacks.

Chloe is set to graduate from Cypress with her Associates Degree in Liberal Arts and will continue her education and soccer career at Concordia University Irvine, where she will pursue a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology.

Fullerton College men's soccer standout Misael Gonzalez has been nothing short of amazing for the Hornets' men's soccer program. He is the only player in the program's history to earn Orange Empire Conference MVP honors, let alone do it in back-to-back seasons (2022 and 2023).

Last season, Gonzalez scored 27 total goals, which was the second most in the state. He was also the team's co-leader in assists with seven.

Serving as the captain on the FC men's soccer team the last two seasons, Gonzalez helped lead the Hornets to back-to-back Orange Empire Conference titles while amassing 40 goals and 13 assists with a team overall record of 33-8-6. What makes this more impressive is that Misael had all this success on the field while working hard in the classroom earning a 3.94 GPA.

All the hard work on the field and in the classroom has paid dividends for Misael, who signed a full-ride scholarship to UCI.

"Misael has been a one of the true great student-athletes to join the Hornet family. He has led by example with his hard work and determination in the classroom, locker room, and field ever since he joined the program. I am very proud of his accomplishments and feel very fortunate to have coached a man of his character", Fullerton College Men's Soccer Coach Greg Aviles.

Below is a complete list of the nominees for each school:

Release by Nicho DellaValle, Santiago Canyon