College Soccer Week 3 Rewind & Awards

Redshirt junior Matt Robinson’s impact on the La Salle Explorers continued to be felt in week three of the college soccer season, as the Lansdale native picked up five assists in a pair of victories to give his team their best start since 2001.

La Salle’s rise came as two teams from the area both suffered their first defeats, Temple at the hands of the region’s only remaining unbeaten team in Rider and No. 22 Delaware to a Villanova team that has now knocked off two ranked opponents this season.

Nationally, the start of the Big 10 and ACC schedules brought a pair of exciting Friday night matches between No. 3 North Carolina and No. 2 Clemson and No. 5 Maryland and No. 4 Indiana.

A James Pyle penalty save and a late goal from Zach Wright lifted North Carolina to the road win over Clemson in the one game and a late goal from central defender Alex Crognale gave the Terps a share of the spoils in Bloomington.

No. 10 Akron, meanwhile, righted their ship with a pair of 2-0 victories over tough competition in a tournament they hosted over the weekend. Freshman Skye Harter picked up both goals in the first game against Oregon State and Adam Najem and Ezana Kahsay scored the goals in the win over 7th-ranked UC Santa Barbara.

In other action, Notre Dame stayed at the top of the rankings with a 4-1 win over No. 15 Virginia Tech thanks to a hat trick from their central defender and set piece specialist Brandon Aubrey and No. 21 Wake Forest got a golden goal from Hayden Partain to top No. 17 Virginia.

Buffalo continued their incredible run of form with two more victories over VMI and Liberty to stretch their record to 6-0-0. The Bulls have outscored opponents 18-1 and senior forward Russell Cicerone leads the nation with eight goals and five assists.

Loyola-Chicago has also been off to an impressive start outside the spotlight with a 5-0-0 start.

Regional Player of the Week: Matt Robinson, R-Jr., La Salle
Robinson assisted on five goals for the Explorers in wins over Saint Peter’s and Manhattan.

Philadelphia Union Academy Player of the Week: Zach Zandi, So., Villanova
Zandi picked up a pair of assists, including one that set up Miguel Polley’s game-winning goal to beat Delaware on Sunday.

National Player of the Week: Brandon Aubrey, Sr., Notre Dame
The central defender scored a hat trick to lead the Irish to a 4-1 win over Virginia Tech in their ACC opener on Friday night.

Goal of the Week

Portland’s Eddie Sanchez pulled off this gem on Friday.

Regional/Philadelphia Union Academy Team of the Week

GK: Ryan Baird, Sr., Rider
Baird posted two shutouts on the week in wins over NJIT and Temple and 10 saves, including a save on a penalty kick against Temple.

D: Todd Pratzner, Sr., Xavier (Lancaster, Pa.)**
Pratzner scored his third career goal in a 4-2 win over Cincinnati on Friday.

D: Colton Storm, Sr., North Carolina (Mechanicsburg, Pa.)**
Storm and the UNC back line held No. 2 Clemson scoreless, setting up a late winner for Zach Wright for the No. 3 Tar Heels on Friday night.

D: Billy McConnell, Sr., Indiana (Richboro, Pa.)**
McConnell and the Indiana back line did well, especially with standout center back Grant Lillard out on a red card suspension, to shut down Maryland’s high-powered attack in the Big 10 opener on Friday night.

D: Rob Nardiello, So., Rider
Scored the game-winner to hand Temple their first loss of the season and helped anchor a defense that picked up two shutouts on the week.

MF: Matt Robinson, R-Jr., La Salle (Lansdale, Pa.)

MF: Andrew Herr, Sr., Michigan State (Millersville, Pa.)**
Had his second straight two-assist game in a 4-0 win over Rutgers in the Spartans Big 10 opener.

MF: Zach Zandi, So., Villanova (West Chester, Pa.)*

F: Mark Forrest, So., Lehigh (Douglassville, Pa.)
Had a hat trick in a 4-3 loss to Seton Hall.

F: Evan Vare, Fr., Lafayette (Jamison, Pa.)
Vare opened his college scoring account and added a second goal to give Lafayette their first goals and first win of the season, a 3-1 victory over Fordham, Friday.

F: Brett Campbell, Sr., Georgetown (Wallingford, Pa.)**
Campbell’s first goal of the season was a big one for the Hoyas, giving them their first win of the season over UConn after an 0-4 start.

* Philadelphia Union Academy alum 2013-2016
** Played in Union Academy as a member of a youth club affiliate

National Team of the Week

GK: James Pyle, R-So., North Carolina
Saved a first-half penalty kick and made five other saves in 1-0 road win over No. Clemson on Friday night.

D: Brandon Aubrey, Sr., Notre Dame (see above)

D: Alex Crognale, Sr., Maryland
Crognale rescued a point for the Terps late with a quality finish and anchored a defense that kept Indiana off the board in a hard-earned road draw Friday.

D: Grant Stoneman, R-So., Loyola-Chicago
Scored a pair of game-winners to keep the Ramblers unbeaten and helped the back line record a pair of clean sheets.

D: Kortne Ford, Jr., Denver
Had a goal and an assist in Denver’s 4-1 win over UC Riverside on Friday and anchored a defense that registered a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Bryant on Sunday.

MF: Eddie Sanchez, Sr., Portland
Sanchez scored the goal of the week (see above) and followed it up with another goal on Sunday for the Pilots.

MF: Max Holdsworth, Fr., American
The freshman from England collected three assists in Sunday’s 5-2 win over Cornell.

MF: Matt Robinson, R-Jr., La Salle (see above)

MF: Reeves Trott, Fr., William & Mary
Scored two goals and assisted on two others as a substitute in a 5-1 win over Campbell on Saturday.

MF: Alex Underwood, Jr., Denver
Assisted on a pair of goals in a 4-1 win over UC Riverside on Friday and scored the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over Bryant on Sunday.

F: David Goldsmith, Sr., Butler
Goldsmith had a four-goal week for the Bulldogs in wins over UC Santa Barbara and Oregon State and added an assist.