Men's Soccer

MVC Men's Soccer Weekly Notebook (Oct. 28)

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference announced its men's soccer weekly award winners on Tuesday. Northern Illinois' Jose Gomez and Caleb Pearson were named the MVC Player and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively. 

Conference News & Notes
  • With two matches remaining in the regular season, there is currently a three-way tie for first place. Drake, Evansville and Northern Illinois are all tied with a 2-0-3 ledger and nine points.
  • UIC and Western Michigan are tied at 1-1-3 with six points, while Belmont (5 pts), Bowling Green (4 pts) and Bradley (2 pts) round out the league standings.
  • Five teams rank inside the Top 100 of the RPI, with Drake leading the way at No. 48.
  • Evansville wrapped up the leauge’s non-conference slate on Monday night, toppling Louisville, 3-1, on the road. It marked the first win for the Purple Aces against the Cardinals since 2001. 
  • UIC continues to lead The Valley, and rank among the nation’s best, in assists (41), goals (34) and points (109). The Flames are one of just 15 programs with triple-digit points. 
  • Defensively, Drake leads the league in team goals against average (.571), shutout percentage (.571) and save percentage (.818). The Bulldogs are in the top 10 nationally in GAA and shutout percentage, while ranking in the top 20 in save percentage. 
  • Bradley’s Drew Berry leads all Division I men’s soccer with 79 total saves this season. 
  • Drake’s Tomas Butkovic has Conference-leading seven clean sheets this season, which is tied for the 16th most nationally.
  • UIC’s Edouard Nys is second in Division I in total points (33) and total goals (14). He’s the only player in The Valley with double-figure goals, but is joined inside the top 25 nationally in the category by Bowling Green’s Trace Terry (9) and Evansville’s Andres Escudero (8).
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jose Gomez, Northern Illinois, Sr. - Roatan, Honduras (Clarke University)
Jose Gomez recorded a goal and two assists as Northern Illinois topped Notre Dame and UIC last week. In the final non-conference match of the year for the Huskies, Gomez provided the assist on Martin Montoya’s game-winning goal as NIU beat Notre Dame for the first time since 1994. Gomez then recorded an assist on the opening goal and scored the game winner against UIC as the Huskies moved into a tie for first place in the MVC standings. Gomez, who has three goals and six assists on the year, has tallied points in three-consecutive matches with two goals and three assists in that stretch.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Caleb Pearson, Northern Illinois, R-So. - Fort Worth, Texas (L.D. Bell HS)
NIU goalkeeper Caleb Pearson recorded nine saves and two victories as the Huskies topped Notre Dame and UIC last week. Coming on as a substitute following a red card with the game tied at 1-1, Pearson made two saves in 34 minutes of action against the Fighting Irish as NIU came away with the 2-1 victory. Pearson then started for NIU against UIC, making a career-high seven stops as the Huskies moved into a tie for first plaace in the Conference standings with a 2-1 win over the Flames.