IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of the league’s weekly men’s soccer honors, for the week ending Sunday, Feb. 28.
Offensive Player of the Week
Alex Meinhard * R-Fr. * F * Tulsa
Meinhard earned player of the week honors for the first time in his career on the strength of a five-point individual performance in a 3-1 win over UCF on Feb. 27. He scored the first two Tulsa goals and provided the primary assist on the third Golden Hurricane tally in the victory. Meinhard found the back of the net twice in the opening half, scoring at 14:29 and 29:38 of the first half for the 2-0 Tulsa lead. He then served up Ben Barkley for an insurance tally at 65:10 that cancelled out a UCF goal at the start of the second half.
Defensive Player of the Week
Noah Hilt * Sr. * M * SMU
Hilt was a force on both sides of the ball for SMU in a 5-0 conference rout of Memphis on Feb. 27, finishing the match with a goal and two assists while helping hold the Tigers to a single shot on goal. Hilt notched the primary assist on the opening SMU goal from Thomas Haney at 46:32 and then followed up with an unassisted goal of his own at 49:52. He later added a second assist in an SMU scoring surge that saw all five goals occur within 20 minutes of match time.
Goalkeeper of the Week
Lucas Cline * Jr. * GK * Tulsa
Cline played a key role in Tulsa’s 3-1 victory against UCF on Feb. 27, registering a conference-high six saves for the weekend. He made a total of four stops during the second half alone with the Golden Hurricane protecting the lead against the Knights.
Rookies of the Week
JT Copper * Fr. * W * USF
Copper scored the match-tying goal for USF in the first half of a 2-1 win at Temple on Feb. 27. Copper notched the opening Bulls goal of the match on his only shot attempt at 33:14 to square the match at 1-1.
Segun Afolabi * Fr. * F * USF
Afolabi was credited with the match-winning goal after entering as a substitute in the first half of a 2-1 USF win over Temple on Feb. 27. Afolabi broke a 1-all tie on a feed from Josue Monge at 39:41 to push the Bulls ahead 2-1.
Weekly Honor Roll
Papa Ndoye * So. * F * SMU
Scored a pair of within a 10-minute stretch of the second half in a 5-0 win over Memphis; attempted a conference-high 13 shots for the week (three on-goal)
Shane Lanson * Jr. * GK * SMU
Made one save in 79:04 of gameplay in a 5-0 clean sheet against Memphis; has yet to allow a goal in over 240 minutes of match time thus far this season
Josue Monge * Sr. * M * USF
Recorded the primary assist on both USF goals in a 2-1 win at Temple; tied for third in The American with four points this season (one goal, two assists)
Marcus Murphy * Jr. * D * USF
Helped limit Temple to only two shots on goal in a 2-1 USF win; the Owls managed only one attempt that found frame in each half
Amir Cohen * So. * M * Temple
Scored the lone Temple goal at 21:47 to give the Owls an early lead in what was ultimately a 2-1 loss to USF; ranked second on the team with two shots