INDIANAPOLIS – Lake Erie and Findlay both earned Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Players of the Week distinction as the regular season slowly winds down to a close.
 
Three of the six teams in the playoff field for the conference tournament have already secured their spots in the postseason bracket. Tiffin and No. 6 Ohio Valley did so the week prior and over the weekend most recently, Cedarville clinched.
 
What’s interesting is that the Yellow Jackets have head-to-head wins over both Tiffin and Ohio Valley so their program is very much in the hunt for a regular-season title and hosting rights for the Great Midwest Championship.
 
Most teams have just two or three conference contests left so the window of opportunity is closing for programs on the bubble of this year’s playoff field.
 
The Yellow Jackets are currently in second place in the conference standings with 26 points, trailing OVU’s 27. Tiffin had a setback against Findlay, but the Dragons are still sitting in great position at third.
 
If the regular season ended today, Trevecca, Lake Erie and Alderson Broaddus, would all be in.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Miguel Espinoza
Lake Erie
Forward
Senior
Perry, OH (Perry HS)
 
Behind the Storm’s playoff push was a notable week from Espinoza, who helped drive Lake Erie to six points in the conference standings with wins over Trevecca and Kentucky Wesleyan.
 
Espinoza scored three goals spread out across the two league wins and was credited with the game-winning shot against KWC.
 
His seventh goal of the season came against Trevecca in the early part of the second half as he gave the Storm a 2-0 on the Trojans.
 
Espinoza scored both goals against Kentucky Wesleyan in a 2-0 shutout effort. His first of the contest was in the fifth minute of regulation before later scoring at the 66:57 mark of regulation.
 
Espinoza is LEC’s leader in points and goals scored with 9 and 20. He moved all the way up to third among the league leaders in points and is tied for second in total goals.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Nathan Sier
Findlay
Goalkeeper
Senior
Royal Oak, MI (Jesuit HS)
 
Sier was flawless contributing to a pair of shutouts recorded in two Oilers’ victories against Kentucky Wesleyan and Tiffin.
 
Sier played in over 84 minutes in the first game of the week as the Oilers tamed KWC with a 3-0 shutout win.
 
Sier made five saves in the full 90 minutes to help the Oilers hold off Tiffin with a 2-0 clean sheet win. The back-to-back shutouts for Findlay were their first of the fall.
 
Sier has now appeared in 12 games while making 11 starts.
 
Findlay has three more conference games on the schedule with some tough ones lined up against Ohio Valley, Lake Erie and Tiffin.