IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of the league’s weekly men’s soccer honors, for the week ending Sunday, March 21.
Offensive Player of the Week
Skage Simonsen * Jr. * M * SMU
Simonsen exploded during a crucial conference contest against USF, tallying a hat trick for SMU in a 3-2 comeback victory on March 20. Simonsen not only registered all three Mustang goals in the match on three total shots on goal, but his match also-tying and match-winning tallies in the second half were 55 seconds apart. The junior midfielder officially found the back of the night at 14:42, 45:48 and 46:43 in the SMU win.
Defensive Player of the Week
Anderson Rosa * Fr. * D * UCF
Rosa scored his first career goal and helped hold the Temple attack in check in a 4-0 conference home win for UCF on March 20. Rosa picked up an unassisted insurance goal at 49:35 on his lone shot on goal and played a key role in keeping the Owls scoreless and limited Temple to five shot attempts on goal.
Goalkeeper of the Week
Yannik Oettl * Sr. * GK * UCF
Oettl turned away five Temple shot attempts for his third shutout of the season in a 4-0 UCF win against Temple on March 20. Four of his five saves were registered during the second half. Oettl leads The American and ranks 17th nationally with an .885 save percentage.
Rookie of the Week
Alex Meinhard * R-Fr. * F * Tulsa
Meinhard distanced himself as the leading scorer in The American with a pair of match-winning goals in a sweep of Memphis for first-place American squad Tulsa. Meinhard found the back of the net at 54:11 in a 2-0 win on March 17 before scoring 50 seconds into the second overtime period of a 1-0 clean sheet against the Tigers on March 21. He is tied for the national lead with four match-winning goals this season.
Weekly Honor Roll
Lucas Cline * Jr. * GK * Tulsa
Earned conference leading third and fourth shutouts (11th in the NCAA) in a pair of wins over Memphis to vault Tulsa into first place; made a total of four saves in 2-0 (March 17) and 1-0 (March 21) wins over the Tigers
Hattabiou Barry * Sr. * F * UCF
Scored two goals, including the match-winner, in a 4-0 UCF rout of Temple on March 20; tallied goals at 16:14 and 88:04 as part of the Knights attack
Harvey Castro * Fr. * M * SMU
Credited with the primary assists on the match-tying SMU goal in a 3-2 SMU win against USF on March 20; added one shot on goal in 60 minutes played
Parker Lackland * Jr. * GK * Memphis
Made seven saves for Memphis in a hard-luck 1-0 loss in double overtime against Tulsa on March 21