St. Paul, Minn. – After scoring a pair of game-winning goals in back-to-back matches, Gustavus Adolphus men’s soccer forward Zach Brown (Eau Claire, Wis.) has been named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men’s Soccer Athlete-of-the-Week. Brown led the Gusties to an important regional victory over Wartburg by the score of 1-0 on Wednesday. He then stole the show in Gustavus’ 2-1 overtime win over Saint John’s on Saturday. Brown is the first Gustie soccer player to be named the MIAC Player-of-the-Week this season.
In Gustavus’ 1-0 win over Wartburg under the lights in Waverly, Head Coach Mike Middleton’s sophomore forward scored the opening goal just 5:16 into the match. Brown was assisted by David Lilly (Maple Grove, Minn.), the pair’s third connection of the season, on the game-winning goal.
On Saturday against Saint John’s, it was déjà vu to last year’s 2-1 overtime victory over the Johnnies in Collegeville. As a rookie still coming off the bench, Brown scored the go-ahead goal and game-winner in the second overtime to lift Gustavus past Saint John’s.
In the Gustavus’ 2-1 win over the Johnnies on Saturday, Sept. 22, in St. Peter, Brown did it again. Instead of the go-ahead goal however, it was the game-tying goal that didn’t come until the 70th minute of the match. The Eau Claire native headed home a Charlie Adams (Fr., Stillwater, Minn.) assist to tie the game at 1-1.
After over five minutes of play in the first overtime session, the Gusties took advantage of a corner kick opportunity. This time it was Lilly feeding the game-winner to Brown who was all alone on the doorstep for the easy tap-in goal.
Zach Brown is currently Gustavus’ leading scorer with five goals and two assists for 12 points. He leads the MIAC with three game-winning goals thus far in 2012, while also ranking among the league leaders in goals (3rd/MIAC) and points (4th/MIAC).
The Gustavus men’s soccer team will be back on the pitch when it hosts Saint Mary’s in a conference showdown on Tuesday afternoon at the Gustie Soccer Field. The Gusties enter the match in first place in the conference standings with a 2-0-1 record in league play and a 6-1-1 mark overall.