Egbo Earns MAC Men's Soccer Player of the Week Honors
MAC Men's Soccer Player of the Week
David Egbo, Akron
Forward, Sophomore, Enugu, Nigeria
Akron sophomore David Egbo sparked the Zips to a 10-0 victory over Canisius, the preseason MAAC conference favorites, registering his first career hat trick, while adding a pair of assists, including on the game-winning tally. His eight-point performance marked the best single-game effort for an Akron player since Victor Souto recorded a hat trick and added an assist in a 4-1 victory over Michigan State on Oct. 21, 2015. His effort represented his second multi-goal game of the season for Egbo, who leads the Zips in goals (6), assists (3), points (15), shots (16), shots on goal (9) and game-winners (1)
A nifty back-heel flick in the box by Egbo in the 38th minute (37:45) directly resulted in Ezana Kahsay scoring what proved to be the game-winning tally. Egbo then added an assist on Morgan Hackworth’s goal at the 38:56 mark. He connected on his fourth goal of the season at the 45:30 mark to extend the Zips' lead to 3-0. In the 51st minute (50:06), Egbo created his own offense taking a ball down the middle of the pitch and unleashing a shot from 22 yards out that found the back of the net to push Akron's advantage to 4-0. Egbo capped his first career hat trick at the 54:23 mark registering his team-leading sixth goal of the season.
Other Nominees
Zach Buescher, Bowling Green
Midfielder, Sophomore, Holland, Ohio (Toledo St. John's Jesuit)
Bowling Green sophomore Zach Buescher scored the tying goal in the Falcons' lone match of the week, a 1-1 draw at Ohio State. Buescher picked up a loose ball in traffic near the top of the 18 and fired a shot into the upper-right-hand corner of the net with just nine seconds remaining, sending the match to overtime. Buescher played 108 of the 110 minutes at OSU, and leads all BGSU non-goalkeepers in minutes played on the season. He has started all six of BG's matches, and has been on the pitch for 567 of the 580 minutes. Buescher has three points this fall, on a goal and an assist.
Ben Thornton, Western Michigan
Defender, Senior, Linden, Mich. (Linden)
Western Michigan senior defender Ben Thornton helped guide the Broncos to a 2-0 week with wins at Cincinnati and versus the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. At Cincinnati Sept. 12, Thornton scored on a header off a corner kick, his second of the season, which was the game-winner in a 2-1 victory. Versus UMBC Sept. 15, Thornton led the Bronco defense to their second shutout win in 2018 as they defeated the Retrievers 2-0 and allowed just one shot on goal, improving their record to 4-4 overall while keeping a three-game winning streak alive.
