Piatczyc Garners Second Straight Player of the Week Award
MAC Men's Soccer Player of the Week
Joey Piatczyc, West Virginia
Midfielder, Senior, Lee's Summit, Missouri
WVU senior Joey Piatczyc had three assists, breaking the school record for career assists, to lead West Virginia to a 5-1 win over American on Friday night. Piatczyc assisted on the first goal for the Mountaineers (2-1) to tie the record for career assists in the 20th minute, and broke the record with an assist on WVU’s third goal in the 48th minute. He added an assist on West Virginia’s fourth goal, in the 72nd minute. After missing the 2017 season due to an injury, Piatczyc has an NCAA-best four assists along with a goal in the Mountaineers’ first three games of the 2018 season. Piatczyc ranks No. 3 in the country with 1.33 assists per game and is No. 27 with 2.00 points per game. Through the first two weeks of the year, no MAC team has more than four assists as a team. His 29 career assists breaks the record of 27, set by Dan Stratford from 2004-07. Piatczyc also owns the school record for assists per game, with 0.53, and shares the school record with four multi-assist matches, while he ranks No. 2 all-time with 11 game-winning assists.
Other Nominees
Anthony Markanich, NIU
Defender, Freshman, Bourbonnais, Ill. (Bradley-Bourbonnais)
NIU freshman Anthony Markanich was named to the RGV Invitational All-Tournament Team as the Huskies split a pair of matches against Houston Baptist and Texas Rio Grande Valley. Markanich tallied the assist on the lone goal in NIU’s 1-0 victory over Houston Baptist and the defender also helped NIU post its second shutout of the season. Markanich played all 90 minutes in both matches in South Texas and has played the full 90 minutes in three of NIU’s four matches this season.
Anthony Mwembia, Bowling Green
Goalkeeper, Junior, Toulouse, France
Bowling Green junior goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia had a goals-against average of just 0.93 in three matches last week. Mwembia posted the 16th shutout of his BGSU career, blanking Wright State for 110 minutes in a scoreless, double-overtime draw. He allowed just one goal at Penn State, and surrendered two late goals (one on a penalty kick) at Western Illinois, after the Falcons had built a three-goal lead.
Noah Heim, SIUE
GK, Sophomore, Cambridge, Wis.
Heim, a sophomore transfer, made three saves over two games to earn his first two shutouts in a Cougar uniform.
