Oct. 10, 2006
Senior defender Andrew Boyens showed why he is a 2006 Hermann Trophy Candidate this weekend in two shutout wins over San Jose State and Sacramento State. The Dunedin, New Zealand, native was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week for his performance in the 13th ranked Lobos two victories.
In New Mexico’s 2-0 win against the Spartans, Boyens dominated play in the backline while helping to keep San Jose State from getting off a shot in the opening half. He also had an assist on the Lobos’ first goal in the ninth minute of action, flicking a thrown-in to sophomore Chris Wright who put in an easy header for the score. Boyens defense helped to hold the Spartans to just four shots and two shots-on-goal for the entire match.
Boyens continued his strong play against Sacramento State in a 1-0 overtime win on Sunday. While the Lobo offense struggled to get going, Boyens and the New Mexico defense shut down any threat from Sacramento State. The Hornets only got one shot-on-goal and were able to get just six total shots off in the match.
After holding San Jose State and Sacramento State to a combined 10 shots – three on-goal – Boyens and the Lobo defense have a league-leading 0.59 goals-against-average which also ranks 12th in the nation. UNM also recorded its league-leading seventh shutout of the year, improving to 8-3-2 and 3-1-0 In MPSF action. Surprisingly, this is the first MPSF Player of the Week honor for Boyens, who was a 2005 All-American and two-time 1st Team All-MPSF selection. New Mexico travels to UNLV (0-10-2, 0-4-0 MPSF) on Friday for an 8:30 p.m. (M.D.T.) contest against the Rebels.