BOSTON - Binghamton and Albany became the first two teams to clinch spots in the 2015 America East Men's Soccer Championship after posting wins over the weekend. The final four spots and seeding positions will be decided over a six-day stretch starting Friday, during which eight games will be played.
Here are the week nine award winners:
Player of the Week
Jason Orban, Stony Brook - Sr., Goalkeeper, Manorville, N.Y.
- Made a career-high seven saves to record his fourth career shutout in a 1-0 win over Hartford Saturday.
- His biggest save of the game came in the 53rd minute as made a diving stop on Andri Jonasson's header attempt and kept the game scoreless.
- This is Orban's second weekly honor of the season. He earned Co-Player of the Week honors on Aug. 31.
Rookie of the Week
Harrison Weilbacher, Binghamton - Fr., Midfielder, Ronkonkoma, N.Y.
- Tallied his career goal, the game winner, in Binghamton's 2-1 win over UMBC Saturday.
- Blasted home a shot in the 78th minute to give the Bearcats a 2-0 advantage.
- This is Weilbacher's second-straight Rookie of the Week honor.
Notes
- Binghamton and Albany became the first two teams to clinch spots in the 2015 America East Championship with wins Saturday.
- The Bearcats sit atop the conference standings with 10 points, while the Great Danes are one point back in second place.
- Binghamton beat UMBC, 2-1, Saturday to improve to 3-1-1 in conference play.
- Moosah Khanat scored off a set piece in double overtime to lift Albany to a 1-0 win over UNH Saturday.
- The Great Danes' eight wins are their most since 2008.
- Vermont and UMass Lowell played to a scoreless tie Saturday.
- The Catamounts sit in third place with eight points.
- Stony Brook got a late goal from Martin Giordano ('86) and a career-high seven-save performance from Jason Orban to beat Hartford, 1-0.
- The Seawolves are tied with New Hampshire and UMass Lowell, which is ineligible for the conference tournament, with seven points.
- America East teams are 39-29-10 in non-conference action this season, a .564 winning percentage.
- Eight of those wins have come over teams that reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago (Binghamton and UMBC over Ohio State, UMBC over Oakland, Hartford and UMass Lowell over Monmouth, Albany, UMass Lowell and New Hampshire over Hartwick).
- Conference play continues with two games Friday and another two Saturday. On Friday, Stony Brook hosts Bingahmton (7 p.m.) andNew Hampshire entertains Hartford (7 p.m.) while on Saturday Albany visits Vermont (1 p.m.) and UMass Lowell hosts UMBC (2 p.m.)
Weekly Award Winners
Aug. 31 - Co-Players of the Week: Gregg Hauck, UMBC & Jason Orban, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Martieon Watson, Stony Brook
Sept. 8 - Player of the Week: Darius Madison, UMBC; Rookie of the Week: Carlos Clark, Albany
Sept. 14 - Player of the Week: Leo Melgar, Albany; Rookie of the Week: Edward Venta-Yepes, UMass Lowell
Sept. 21 - Co-Players of the Week: Zach Galluzzo, Binghamton & Austin Kroll, UMass Lowell; Rookie of the Week: Serge Gamwanya, Stony Brook
Sept. 28 - Player of the Week: Darius Madison, UMBC; Rookie of the Week: Patrick Jean-Giles, UMBC
Oct. 5 - Player of the Week: Chris Wingate, New Hampshire; Rookie of the Week: Chris Arling, New Hampshire
Oct. 12 - Co-Players of the Week: Billy Heavner, UMBC & Bernard Yeboah, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Chris Arling, New Hampshire
Oct. 19 - Co-Players of the Week: Jake Barros, Albany & Brian Wright, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Harrison Weilbacher, Binghamton
Oct. 26 - Players of the Week: Jason Orban, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Harrison Weilbacher, Binghamton