INDIANAPOLIS – The first Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week were announced by the league on Tuesday morning.
 
League competition is already underway as Alderson Broaddus and Ohio Valley dueled to a scoreless double-overtime draw over the weekend. Great Midwest contests will pick up again this week as the league enjoyed a successful season-opening run.
 
Ohio Dominican stunned United Soccer preseason No. 12 Urbana while seven of the 11 Great Midwest teams picked up at least one win.
 
Great Midwest Offensive Player of the Week
#10 Pablo Salvador Lopez
Davis & Elkins
Midfield
Sr. – Madrid, Spain (Colegio Quercus)
 
Salvador Lopez caught the attention of the coaches last season as he landed on the first-team all-conference list as a junior and helped guide Davis & Elkins to the top seed and regular-season title.
 
His final season as a Senator is off to a flying start after scoring the game-winning goal and assisting on another over in-state rival Salem International.
 
He gave D&E a 2-0 lead in the first half with a goal in the 40th minute while feeding teammate Rafa Moreno for the first score of the contest about six minutes prior.
 
Salvador Lopez netted three goals and three assists in 2016.
 
Great Midwest Defensive Player of the Week
#14 Phillip Kelly
Ohio Dominican
Defense
Jr. – Canal Winchester, OH (Canal Winchester HS)
 
Kelly and Ohio Dominican carved out a signature win in their season opener by beating Urbana, a program that went 14-5-1 just a year ago. The Panthers also stormed back in with a second-half surge against Ashland, keeping it close in a 3-2 loss.
 
Kelly aided the defensive charge in a 3-2 final and assisted the game-winning goal by Jaxson Szabo with less than two minutes left in regulation.
 
He also contributed a double-assist in ODU’s first goal, one that gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at the 8:21 mark in the first half.
 
Kelly and the ODU defense held the Blue Knights to 15 shots while the Panthers fired off 14 as a team. He netted his third assist of the fall against Ashland, another double-assist format for the last goal in regulation.
 
Kelly started 18 games as a sophomore on the Ohio Dominican defensive unit with a goal and an assist.