OKLAHOMA CITY – In leading their teams to a pair of high-profile victories last week, Mid-America Christian’s Mason Gonzalez and Southwestern Christian’s Santiago Esparza were selected as the Sooner Athletic Conference players of the week for Aug. 22-28.
Gonzalez earned his second offensive accolade in his MACU career while Esparza also collected his second defensive player of the week honor.
Offensive player of the week: Mason Gonzalez | F | Sr. | Fresno, Calif.
In Mid-America Christian’s 3-1 victory over two-time NAIA national champion Hastings on Aug. 27, Gonzalez scored the game-winning goal and dished out an assist for three points to lead the Evangels’ attack. Gonzalez earned his second offensive player of the week honor after collecting the accolade in Week 14 after guiding the Evangels to the SAC Tournament Championship in the split 2020-21 campaign. After the Broncos scored the game-tying goal in the 76th minute, Gonzalez struck gold just 43 seconds later when Rodrigo Albuquerque found him open in-front of the net off a short corner to give MACU the 2-1 advantage. The Evangels put the game away in the 89th minute when Gonzalez recorded an assist on a give-and-go to Luan Cesar breaking into the 18-yard box for the insurance goal, giving him his third career three-point game.
Other nominees: Juan Ambriz, SW Assemblies of God; Cameron Ashby, Southwestern Christian; Tommaso Belli, Oklahoma City; Mathias Guffroy, Texas Wesleyan; Drew Schrader, Central Christian; Callum Sheperd, Science & Arts; Jacob Zamarron, John Brown
Defensive player of the week: Santiago Esparza | GK | Sr. | Miami, Fla.
Senior goalkeeper Santiago Esparza helped guide Southwestern Christian to a pair of pivotal wins last season as the Eagles shutout No. 17 MidAmerica Nazarene 2-0 on Aug. 24 before coming away with a 4-1 victory over Sterling on Aug. 28. Against MNU, Esparza pitched his fourth career shutout, making a pair of saves to upend a nationally-ranked Pioneers program. Esparza had another solid outing in the net against one of the top teams from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC), giving up just one goal in 90 minutes of action. Overall for the week, Esparza finished with a pair of saves on a .667 save percentage. Esparza was the Week 9 recipient during the 2020-21 season after helping lead the Eagles to a 2-0 victory over John Brown on Feb. 23 and an 8-1 win against SW Assemblies of God on Feb. 27.
Other nominees: Bram Dekker, Science & Arts; Erick Diaz, John Brown; Hugh Elliott, Texas Wesleyan; Sebastian Herrera, Central Christian; Dejue Johnson, Mid-America Christian; Danilo Vilani, Oklahoma City
|
2021 Sooner Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Players of the Week
|
|
WEEK
|
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
|
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
|
|
Aug. 22-28
|
Mason Gonzalez, Mid-America Christian
|
Santiago Esparza, Southwestern Christian
|
|
Aug. 15-21
|
Jacob Zamarron, John Brown
|
Rodrigo Selingardi, John Brown
|