INDIANAPOLIS – Findlay and Ohio Valley each earned some valuable points in the standings to receive Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Players of the Week that were announced Monday afternoon.
No. 6 nationally ranked Lake Erie is still the cream of the crop with 24 points and a perfect 8-0-0 Great Midwest record. The Storm made it 12 straight wins following Sunday’s outcome vs. Kentucky Wesleyan, but the Panthers made Lake Erie uncomfortable down the stretch.
Ohio Valley and Tiffin are both tied with 16 points in second. The Fighting Scots earned a pair of road victories while Tiffin split with differing results vs. Ohio Dominican (win) and Cedarville (loss).
The Yellow Jackets have had five different ties already this season (100 minutes of extra trime on the field) and are tied with Findlay for fourth. Not surprisingly, UF and CED dueled to a stalemate earlier this week.
Offensive Player of the Week
Josh Hales
Findlay
Forward
Junior
Peterborough, England (Hampton)
The Oilers’ forward Hales as earned offensive conference player of the week recognition after scoring three goals over two games.
The Junior from England netted his three goals on only five shots, a conversion rate of .600. The Oilers won one of the games and salvaged a draw for one point the other during the week.
The Oilers hosted Cedarville and Ohio Dominican and they played to a 2-2 double OT draw to Cedarville and scored a 4-3 win over Ohio Dominican.
Against the Yellow Jackets, Hales scored the game tying goal in the 77th minute to send it to overtime. Against the Panthers, Hales netted his first goal in the first half to tie the game at two a piece before ultimately scoring the game-winning goal early in the second half.
Hales now has scored six goals on the season and assisted on one, contributing 13 points to the team. He is second on the team in both goals scored and points.
The Oilers go on the road this week as they travel to Ohio Valley and then end the week at Alderson Broaddus on Oct. 19.
Defensive Player of the Week
Stevens Velez
Ohio Valley
Goalkeeper
Sophomore
Pereira, Colombia
The Ohio Valley goalkeeper Velez has earned defensive conference player of the week honors after recording two clean sheets.
The sophomore from Colombia recorded a total of ten saves and did not allow one goal as the Fighting Scots were on the road at Malone and Walsh during the week.
Velez and the Fighting Scots are allowing only one goal per game as a team and a shot percentage of .104.
Velez has only started four games this season and out of those games has only allowed three goals and has made 13 saves.
He has also recorded two shutouts. Velez has an outstanding save percentage of .813 and while he has been in goal the Fighting Scots only allow .69 goals per game.
The Fighting Scots are back home this week as they welcome two of the top five teams in the conference standings, Findlay and Tiffin.