Big South Announces Men's Soccer Players of the Week - Sept. 21
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – UNC Asheville forward
Tyler Ware (Hooper, Utah) has been named the Big South Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, while Asheville goalkeeper
Lucca Barros (Mint Hill, N.C.) is the Defensive Player of the Week for matches played Sept. 14-20, it was announced today. In addition, Presbyterian College forward
Aiden Burke (Jefferson, Ga.) has been selected as the Freshman of the Week.
Ware tallied six points on two goals and two assists to lead UNC Asheville to a pair of wins on the week. The senior opened Big South play with two goals and an assist, accounting for all three goals in a 3-0 home win over Longwood on Saturday. He broke a scoreless tie with his first goal in the 57th minute before quickly completing his brace less than five minutes later with an unassisted finish. Ware then capped the scoring with an assist in the 69th minute to put the Bulldogs ahead by three. Earlier in the week, he also assisted on the opening goal in the 60th minute of a 2-1 win over ETSU. Ware finished the week with six of his 10 shots on goal while playing 151 minutes.
Barros totaled 12 saves across a perfect 2-0 week for UNC Asheville, highlighted by a career-high nine saves against ETSU and a clean sheet against Longwood. The redshirt sophomore turned away three shots in the first half and six in the second half against the Buccaneers, including saves at the 87:53 and 89:23 marks to help Asheville preserve a 2-1 victory. Barros then followed with three more saves and a shutout performance to open the Bulldogs’ Big South slate against the Lancers, earning Asheville its first clean sheet to open conference play since 2019. He finished the week with a .923 save percentage on 25 shots faced.
Burke scored his first career goal in Presbyterian’s Big South opener against USC Upstate on Saturday night. The freshman netted an equalizer in the 38th minute, capitalizing on a corner kick and striking from eight yards out. He led Presbyterian with four shots against the Spartans, putting three on goal. Burke totaled 81 minutes on the week, including 50 minutes against Upstate and 31 earlier in the week at Stetson.
Also nominated for Offensive Player of the Week:
Nicolas Triguero (Gardner-Webb),
Prosper Adagani (High Point),
David Palade (USC Upstate) and
Juma Baden (Winthrop).
Also nominated for Defensive Player of the Week:
Euan Brindley (Winthrop).
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week:
Alfie Humphrey (Winthrop).