Big South Announces Men's Soccer Players of the Week - Sept. 25
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point midfielder Jefferson Amaya (Charlotte, N.C.) has been named the Big South Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, while Presbyterian College goalkeeper Beatty Murray (Greenwood, S.C.) is the Defensive Player of the Week for matches played Sept. 18-24, it was announced today. In addition, Blue Hose forward Victor Faaborg Christensen (Gammel Holte, Denmark) has been selected as the Freshman of the Week.
Amaya scored two goals and added one assist to lead High Point to a perfect 2-0 record last week. After firing three shots in a 1-0 road win at William & Mary on Tuesday (Sept. 19), he opened league play on Saturday (Sept. 23) with five critical points highlighted by the game-winning goal to power the Panthers over USC Upstate, 4-3. Amaya opened with an assist to teammate Finn McRobb at the 25:04 mark before giving HPU a 3-1 advantage thanks to an unassisted goal of his own in the 50th minute. After the Spartans battled back to even the score at 3-3, Amaya then broke the tie with his second goal of the afternoon, this time with just under 14 minutes remaining to put High Point ahead for good.
Murray picked up two wins in goal, including one shutout performance, to help propel Presbyterian to a pair of victories. In total, he combined for eight saves and a .800 save percentage on the week. Murray opened the week on Tuesday at Jacksonville by stopping all four shots on target to pick up his second shutout of the season in a 1-0 win over the Dolphins. He added another four saves on Saturday, limiting a potent UNC Asheville offense to just two goals on 17 shots to allow the Blue Hose to win the match on a late score, 3-2.
Faaborg Christensen posted a goal and an assist to key a Blue Hose win over the Bulldogs, 3-2, in their conference opener. Trailing 2-1 with under 14 minutes to play, he found teammate Damorny Hutchinson who tallied the equalizer in the 77th minute. Faaborg Christensen then struck again just 1:11 later, beating the Asheville goalkeeper at the 77:49 mark for the dramatic game winner.
Also nominated for Offensive Player of the Week: Caio Hughes (Gardner-Webb), Damorny Hutchinson (Presbyterian), Brendan Herb (UNC Asheville), Braiden Hall (USC Upstate) and Ricardo Ferreira (Winthrop).
Also nominated for Defensive Player of the Week: Finn McRobb (High Point) and Charlie Farrar (UNC Asheville).
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week: Anthony Ramirez (High Point) and Adrian Panaite (USC Upstate).