INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC senior forward Jesus Torres (Chicago, Ill.) is the Horizon League Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, while Valparaiso sophomore goalkeeper Nico Campbell (Kingston, Jamaica) is the Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 25-Sept. 1.
The 2014 regular season began Friday with all nine conference teams making their debuts on the pitch. UIC (2-0-0), last year’s Horizon League regular season champions, collected a pair of wins during the first weekend at home. The Flames took on Cal State Fullerton on Friday and went into overtime before notching a 3-2 victory. Two days later, UIC was back on its home turf against San Francisco and posted a 1-0 shutout victory to end the opening weekend undefeated.
Torres led UIC in goals, points, shots and shots on goal in the debut weekend. The senior scored the first Flames’ goal of the season and added an assist on the second goal against Cal State Fullerton. The first goal was tallied in the 53rd minute from a pass by freshman Jose Fuentes in which Torres dribbled through traffic to release a shot that found the back of the goal. In the 65th minute, the senior crossed a pass to freshman Sergio Fuentes to give UIC a 2-0 lead. On Sunday, Torres netted the game-winner and lone goal versus San Francisco in the 22nd minute off a dish from teammate Manny Chaves. He finished the weekend with five points on five shots and three shots on goal.
Valparaiso (0-0-2) traveled to the East Coast to begin its season in North Carolina. The Crusaders went into double-overtime against North Carolina State that ended in a 0-0 draw. A couple days later, Valparaiso found itself in another double-overtime battled versus Davidson that concluded in a 0-0 tie.
Campbell was in the goal for Valparaiso during each of the two shutouts. The weekend competitions served as his second and third shutouts of his career. Between the two matches, the sophomore had 10 saves allowing no opposing shots to find the back of the net in his 220 minutes on the pitch.
UIC has two contests this coming weekend with its first at home against Michigan State on Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET followed by a road matchup versus Drake on Sunday. Valparaiso does not compete again until Tuesday, Sept. 9 when the Crusaders take on Butler in Indianapolis at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Top Offensive Performers of the Week:
Adam Clauss, Detroit (So., MF): In the overtime win against Western Michigan, Clauss scored the game-winner on a penalty kick.
Jordan Dover, Green Bay (Jr., MF): In the overtime loss to DePaul, Dover scored two goals with only 10 men on the field for the Phoenix.
Hasham Hammouda, Cleveland State (Jr., F): Tallied three points in two matches during the Vikings’ opening weekend. In the 2-0 win against Marshall he assisted the first goal while scoring the second on a free kick with five minutes remaining.
Petter Ingebrigtsen, Milwaukee (Fr., F): Led the Panthers to a 2-0 week with two goals and one assist. Scored the first goal against DePaul and assisted in the game-winner and scored the second goal versus Drake. Became just the third Milwaukee freshman to score a goal in the first two games of the year.
Zach Zwiesler, Wright State (So., MF): Scored the game-winning goal against Kentucky in the season-opener.
Top Defensive Performers of the Week:
Liam Anderson, Milwaukee (So., GK): Started the season 2-0 in goal for the Panthers while making seven saves against DePaul and three versus Drake. His shutout over Drake was Anderson’s 11th in his career.
Tyler Blackmer, Wright State (So., GK): Collected three saves in the shutout win over Kentucky and had six saves in the 0-0 draw against Cincinnati.
Grayson Rector, Belmont (So., GK): Tallied a career-high eight saves against Kentucky and collected seven saves versus South Carolina in the season debut.
Nathan Steinwascher, Detroit (Sr., GK): Earned a victory in the season debut against Western Michigan, making three saves in the contest.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Sept. 2: Jesus Torres, UIC
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Sept. 2: Nico Campbell, Valparaiso
Tags: Horizon League - Men's Soccer · UIC - Men's Soccer · Valparaiso - Men's Soccer
