PACWEST MEN’S SOCCER WEEKLY NOTEBOOK
IRVINE, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific and Fresno Pacific both earned two wins last week to extend their winning streaks to seven and six, respectively. Point Loma also earned two conference wins to reach 12 points on the season.
Azusa Pacific’s offense exploded for eight goals in home victories over Dominican and Holy Names last week. Freshman
Gabriel Costa tallied three assists in those wins as the Cougars remained in first place.
Fresno Pacific claimed a dominant 5-1 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills before notching a 4-3 conference win against Notre Dame de Namur. In the win against the Toros,
Anthony Velarde tied the PacWest record for career assists with his 36th.
The first Regional Rankings from the NCAA will be released on Wednesday as Azusa Pacific, Fresno Pacific and Point Loma wait to find out where they stand among the best teams in the region.
Azusa Pacific and Fresno Pacific will face each other on Thursday in Azusa. The winner of the match will be in first place in the PacWest standings with six matches left to be played in the season. The Sunbirds will also play against Biola on Saturday during their trip to southern California.
Point Loma will travel to Hawai`i this week to face Hawai`i Pacific on Thursday and Chaminade on Saturday. The Sea Lions won both of their last two games comfortably as
TIm Siegfried scored four goals in the wins.
Weekly awards based on the week of Oct. 8-14
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Anthony Velarde, Fresno Pacific
F, Sr., 5-7 -- Reedley, Calif.
Velarede recorded his second and third multi-goal games of the season as he led the Sunbirds to wins over Cal State Dominguez Hills and Notre Dame de Namur. In the win over the Toros, Velarde led the Sunbirds’ offense with two goals and an assist. It was his 36th career assist, tying the PacWest record as he also became the first player to record two seasons with at least 12 assists. Velarde scored two more goals in the win against Notre Dame de Namur. The senior played all 90 minutes as he helped FPU score three second-half goals to come from behind for a 4-3 victory over the Argonauts.
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Luis Rodriguez, Biola
GK, Jr., 6-4 -- Guadalajara, Mexico
Rodriguez recorded his third shutout of the season on Thursday against Hawai`i Pacific and only allowed one goal in 180 minutes of work on the week. In the 1-0 victory against Hawai`i Pacific, Rodriguez recorded a season-high nine saves for his fifth win of the year. The junior brought his goals-against average down to 1.37 for the season as Biola improved to 3-2 in PacWest play.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Gabriel Costa, Azusa Pacific
M, Fr., 5-6 -- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Costa recorded a goal and an assist in Azusa Pacific’s 4-0 win over Dominican to extend his streak of matches in which he has both an assist and a goal to five. The freshman added two more assists against Holy Names to reach a total of 10 assists on the season. Costa joins a short list of players in PacWest history to have recorded at least 10 goals and 10 assists in the same season. He took a season-high nine shots in the 4-1 win over Holy Names.