Aug. 28, 2012
WOODLAND, Calif. – After receiving several national accolades, including College Soccer News’ National Player of the Week, New Mexico men’s soccer student-athlete Devon Sandoval has received weekly honors from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Lobo forward was named MPSF Player of the Week.
Sandoval, a native of Albuquerque, played a role in all three of UNM’s goals in their season-opening win at #2 UCLA on Friday, August 24th. Sandoval would score twice and register an assist in a third New Mexico goal as the #6 Lobos defeated the #2 Bruins 3-2 in front of a national television audience courtesy of the PAC-12 Network. His five points set a new single game career-high for Sandoval.
He became the first player to score a pair of goals against the Bruins since December 4, 2010 when Louisville’s Colin Rolfe did so in the 2010 College Cup.
The weekly honors mark the second time the senior has been named the top player in the MPSF for the week. Sandoval was the P.O.W in mid-September after he helped lead the Lobos to on-field success in the University of Akron Tournament, which also marked the last time he scored twice in a game.
Sandoval’s weekly award from the MPSF comes on the heels of the program’s previous award winner. Junior defender Kyle Venter the final MPSF Player of the Week of the 2011 season, which was announced on November 14th of last year.
Sandoval and the Lobos will return to action with a pair games this weekend. New Mexico travels to the state of Oklahoma to participate in the Tulsa Invitational. The cherry and silver will face Tulsa at 7 p.m. (MT) on Friday, August 31st, and then they will take on SMU at 2 p.m. (MT) on Sunday, September 2nd.
Singing Sandoval’s Praises
The national collegiate soccer media showered Sandoval with praise following the Lobos win at #2 UCLA. College Soccer News named him National Player of the Week, and he was named to TopDrawerSoccer’s National Team of the Week.