ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sophomore Aaron Herrera of the University of New Mexico men’s soccer team has been named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week this week following his impressive defensive performance in this weekend’s season-opening tournament hosted by Notre Dame.
Herrera kicked off his sophomore campaign with All-Tournament honors at the Mike Berticelli Memorial Invitational hosted by Notre Dame in the Lobos’ opening weekend. The sophomore saw all 180 minutes on the pitch and anchored a defense that nearly shut out two ranked opponents, No. 13 Indiana and No. 9 Notre Dame. Both goals scored against the Lobos in their opening weekend were results of penalty kicks.
In addition to his defensive skills, Herrera was key in clearing the ball from New Mexico territory while sending several well-placed crosses into the box that nearly yielded Lobo scoring against two top-15 ranked teams in the country.
The Lobos fell to both No. 13 Indiana and No. 9 Notre Dame by scores of 1-0 and starts the season 0-2 against ranked opponents. New Mexico hosts its home opener on Friday, Sept. 2 against CSU Northridge at 7 p.m. as part of the TLC Plumbing and Utility Invitational.