RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference announced the men’s soccer players of the week for the opening weekend of the 2023 season. Newman’s Carlos Bellosta Manchon and Southern Nazarene’s Bruno Ferreira shared the Offensive accolade while Rogers State’s Artur Carvalho and Declan Viljoen earned the Defender and Goalkeeper awards.
#theGAC/MIAA MEN’S SOCCER CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Carlos Bellosta Manchon, MF, Newman, Sr., Madrid, Spain
Bellosta Manchon became the first Jet to record a hat trick since the 2018 season. He scored the match’s opening goal in the 40th minute. After Rockhurst tied the contest in the 59th minute, he tapped home the winning goal six minutes later. Four minutes later he completed the hat trick
#theGAC/MIAA MEN’S SOCCER CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Bruno Ferreira, F, Southern Nazarene, Gr., Santos, Sau Paulo, Brazil
After playing a scoreless draw with Oklahoma Christian, Ferreira recorded a hat trick in the Crimson Storm’s 6-4 triumph against Southwest Baptist. His first goal gave Southern Nazarene its first lead of the game, 3-2, on a 33rd-minute tally. After a pair of Bearcat goals, he gave the Crimson Storm a 5-4 lead in the 73rd minute. He converted a penalty kick in the 86th minute.
#theGAC/MIAA MEN’S SOCCER DEFENDER OF THE WEEK – Artur Carvalho, D, Rogers State, So., Faro, Portugal
Carvalho anchored a defense that produced two clean sheets as part of a 1-0-1 start. He played the full 90 minutes against Missouri S&T and led a defense that held the Miners to just nine shots. He played 75 minutes in a 3-0 win against Drury. The Hillcats limited the Panthers to only seven shots. He assisted on Rogers State’s second goal of the match.
#theGAC/MIAA MEN’S SOCCER GOALKEEPER OF THE WEEK – Declan Viljoen, GK, Rogers State, Jr., Auckland, New Zealand
Viljoen notched a total of nine saves across the Hillcats two contests last week as they began the season with two shutouts. In the season-opening draw against Missouri S&T he made fives and registered the 12th shutout of his career. He played almost 81 minutes in the 3-0 victory against Drury. He added four saves.
OTHERS NOMINATED
Sebastian Hernandez, D (Rogers State), Ivan Lopez, F (Northeastern State), Alex Plimmer, MF (Fort Hays State), Stefano Silva, MF (Harding)
Ian Milla, GK (Northeastern State), Jared Nitz, GK (Harding)