La Salle redshirt-junior Matt Robinson was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, while Davison senior Andrew Kenneson and Saint Joseph’s junior Greg O’Connell earned Co-Defensive Player of the Week Honors. Rhode Island freshman Niklas Middrup was also selected as the league’s Rookie of the Week. The awards, announced Monday, are for games played Sept. 5-11.
Robinson was a big part of the Explorers’ success last week, assisting on five different goals in two wins highlighted by four helpers in a 4-3 overtime win at Saint Peter’s. The mid/forward from Lansdale, Pa. offensive prowess has helped La Salle get to a 4-1 record. The redshirt-junior now leads the Atlantic 10 in points with nine.
Kenneson, goalkeeper from Johnson City, Tenn., was tremendous in goal for the Wildcats, recording four saves en route to his first career solo shutout in a 2-0 win over UNC Ashville. In the opening half, he recorded a diving stop to keep the game scoreless, and later in the contest he punched a header off a corner of the crossbar to preserve the clean sheet.
O’Connell, goalkeeper from Rye, N.Y., earned his first collegiate shutout with four saves in the full 90 minutes in SJU’s 1-0 win over Howard on Friday night. The Bison put pressure on SJU with a pair of shots on goal in the 64th and 67th minutes, but O’Connell made the pair of saves as two of his three second-half stops.
Middrup played in all 290 minutes of Rhode Island’s three games this past week. The freshman defender from Cologne, Germany scored the game winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Stetson, which came in the 62 minute.