OKLAHOMA CITY – After picking up a pair of wins against NAIA Top 25 teams last week, Mid-America Christian swept the Sooner Athletic Conference player of the week awards for Sept. 6-12 with Rodrigo Albuquerque collecting the offensive accolade and Emanuele Grumo earning the defensive honor.
It is the fourth time in Albuquerque’s three seasons with MACU that he was named the offensive recipient, while Grumo is a first-time honoree.
Offensive player of the week: Rodrigo Albuquerque | F | Sr. | Recife, Brazil
After leading No. 7 Mid-America Christian to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory at No. 16 Georgia Gwinnett on Labor Day and a 5-1 win over No. 22 Lyon on Saturday, Albuquerque finished the week with a total of four goals and an assist for nine points. Despite trailing 2-0 at the halftime break against the Grizzlies, the Recife, Brazil product spearheaded the comeback by scoring MACU’s first goal of the contest before pushing across his first game-winner of the season in the 87th minute to secure the victory. Albuquerque had another explosive offensive match against a strong defensive team in Lyon, as he scored a pair of goals and had the assist on Ricardo Ferreira’s game-winner in the 54th minute. It was the sixth-time in his career that he recorded five or more points in a match.
Other nominees: Mateja Jovanovic, Texas Wesleyan; Marco Magnoli, Wayland Baptist
Defensive player of the week: Emanuele Grumo | D | Fr. | Brugherio, Italy
For the second straight week, the Evangels had a defender earn the weekly honor as MACU’s right center-back Emanuele Grumo guided the Evangels to victories against two nationally-ranked program. In MACU’s 3-2 victory over 16th-ranked Georgia Gwinnett, the Evangels held the Grizzlies to a season-low eight shots, including keeping GGC off the board in the second half to allow MACU to overcome a 2-0 halftime deficit. In the 5-1 victory over No. 22 Lyon on Saturday, the Evangels defense once again dominated, limiting the Scots to only six shots for the entire match with only two landing on-goal, LC’s lowest output of the season.
Other nominees: Hugh Elliott, Texas Wesleyan
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2021 Sooner Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Players of the Week
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WEEK
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OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
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DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
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Sept. 6-12
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Rodrigo Albuquerque, Mid-America Christian
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Emanuele Grumo, Mid-America Christian
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Aug. 30-Sept. 5
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Tommaso Belli, Oklahoma City
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Dejue Johnson, Mid-America Christian
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Aug. 23-29
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Mason Gonzalez, Mid-America Christian
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Santiago Esparza, Southwestern Christian
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Aug. 16-22
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Jacob Zamarron, John Brown
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Rodrigo Selingardi, John Brown
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