Men's Team of The Week: November 8

by TopDrawerSoccer

November 8, 2022

Virginia was hanging by a thread. Pittsburgh was stroking the ball around, showing signs of breaching the Cavaliers’ stout back line. And in the 60th minute, the chance came. A pocket of space for Rodrigo Almeida. A shift onto his left foot. A shot that seemed to be spinning towards the far corner. But Virginia goalkeeper Holden Brown judged the ball’s flight, parrying it away. It was one of nine saves from the goalie on the day, a performance that kept Virginia ahead — and carried it to the semi final of the ACC tournament. Brown has been a reliable presence all season. And never was that more clear than against Pitt.

Player of the Week: Holden Brown, Virginia

68' Two MASSIVE saves from Brown. He is up to seven tonight, a season-high 🛑

Virginia 1, Pitt 0#GoHoos⚔️ pic.twitter.com/iy3xR8xMDa
— Virginia Men's Soccer (@UVAMenSoccer) November 6, 2022

Men's Team of the Week: October 31-November 6

GK Holden Brown, Virginia - Brown helped Virginia hold onto a lead in a tight game against Pittsburgh. He made nine saves, including a dramatic double stop in the 60th minute.

D Caden Vom Steeg, UC Santa Barbara - Vom Steeg hasn’t necessarily racked up assists this year, but his service was crucial for the Gauchos Sunday night. He provided the ball that led to the winning goal with two minutes remaining.

D Ben Rosenblatt, Elon - Rosenblatt scored the only goal in the CAA semi final, while also bolstering a back line that kept its 11th clean sheet of the season.

D Bissafi Dotte, Campbell - Campbell thrashed Presbyterian Sunday, and Dotte was a big part of the effort. The defender scored and put in a shift defensively, too.

D Nicolas Scargle, South Florida - Scargle picked an opportune time to register his first assist of the season, finding Ajmeer Spengler with a defense splitting pass — who dutifully banged home the equalizer in the AAC Tournament first round.

M John Klein, Saint Louis - Klein has bossed the midfield with regularity this season. And he did so once again against Massachusetts in the A-10 tournament, providing the assist on the Billikens’ winning goal.

M Casper Grening, Kentucky - Grening scored twice for Kentucky last week — including the equalizer against South Carolina in the Sun Belt tournament quarter final.

M Brandon Parrish, Clemson - Parrish was heavily involved in both of Clemson’s contests last week. First, he played 60 minutes in the Tigers win over Notre Dame. Then, on Sunday, he scored the best goal of the season so far, dribbling past four players before finishing — knocking Duke out of the ACC tournament.

F Marco Afonso, UNC Greensboro - Afonso saved his best performance for the Spartans’ most important game of the season. He scored a hat-trick and added an assist in a 6-3 drubbing of Furman in the Southern Conference tournament.

F Levonte Johnson, Syracuse - Johnson showed exactly how valuable he is to Syracuse last week. After a relatively quiet night, he bagged the winning goal in the 87th minute to send the Orange to the ACC tournament semi final.

F Palmer Ault, Butler - Ault broke open a tight game in the Big East last eight, bagging a brace to send Butler to the semis.

Honorable mentions:

F Colin Griffith (Maryland), F Devyn Etling (Ohio State), M Sergi Martinez (Bowling Green), GK Greg Monroe (Siena College), M Nicholas Scardina (Washington), M Clay Obara (James Madison), M Julian Hodek (Florda International(m)), M Ploutarchos Alonefti (Lipscomb)