INDIANAPOLIS – Quincy University senior forward Jordan Roberts and University of Wisconsin-Parkside senior goalkeeper Marcos Perez have been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week in men’s soccer, it was announced by the league office Monday.
Roberts helped No. 11 Quincy to a pair of wins this weekend to stay undefeated on the season (9-0-0, 6-0-0 GLVC). The Durham, England native scored in the ninth minute on Friday in a 4-0 victory over Missouri S&T on a ball that was one-touched to him at the top of the box by Taylor Reis, which proved to be the game-winner. Roberts would go on to score again in the 52nd minute when Ethan Venvertloh found him in the center of the box from 12 yards out for the strike. The senior played an essential role in the Hawks’ win Sunday against Drury as well. QU fell behind for the first time this season, but the senior sent home the equalizer in the 60th minute from 20 yards out at the top of the box. Later, with the game tied at 2-2, Roberts dribbled to the left side of the box and drew two defenders. He sent a pass between the two Panthers to an open Xhovani Dokaj who finished past the keeper for the game-winner in the 83rd minute. Roberts finished the week with three goals and an assist, including a game-winning goal on Friday and an assist on the game-winner Sunday. Roberts now has nine goals and five assists this season. The Hawks have now earned three straight GLVC Offensive Player of the Week honors after Dokaj earned the previous two en route to Disney Soccer/NSCAA Player of the Week accolades. This is Roberts’ second weekly award of his career as he was also recognized by the GLVC on Nov. 4, 2013.
Perez finished the weekend with 19 saves, helping UW-Parkside (4-4, 2-4) collect a pair of road shutouts. The goalkeeper played all 90 minutes of each game, making a season-high 12 saves in the squad’s 1-0 victory over USI on Friday night before collecting seven saves in a 2-0 shutout win over host Illinois Springfield. It marked the first time the Rangers posted back-to-back shutouts in GLVC play since 2009 when UW-Parkside downed UIS 3-0 on Oct. 15 and Quincy 2-0 on Oct. 18. On the season, the Kenosha, Wisconsin native has started seven of the team’s eight games, making 33 saves and logging 540 minutes in net. This is the second career honor for Perez as he was also named GLVC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 9, 2013 – the last time a Ranger standout was honored by the league.