DENVER — Kansas City’s Tato Chiaparro and Sylvester Yiadom have been named the Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for September 9-15.
Chiaparro, a junior forward from Sao Paulo, Brazil (Lewis and Clark CC), helped UMKC claim a share of the SMU Invitational title, going 1-0-1. He scored a goal in the 80th minute against No. 13 Tulsa on Friday night, giving the ‘Roos a 1-0 lead, then scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over SMU on Sunday night. For his efforts, he was named the SMU Invitational Co-Tournament MVP. For the week, he scored two goals, including a game-winner, on three shots.
Yiadom, a junior defender from Accra, Ghana (Aggrey Smith HSH), earned all-tournament team honors after leading the ‘Roos defense to a shutout win vs. SMU and a 1-1 tie against No. 13 Tulsa over the weekend. Kansas City shared the SMU Invitational title with Tulsa, going 1-0-1. For the week, Yiadom helped UMKC tally a 0.45 goals against average.
Other offensive nominees included: senior midfielder Gerrit Thomes, Grand Canyon; and freshman forward Stefan Lamanna, Houston Baptist.
Defensive nominees included: junior goalkeeper Joshua Zehring, Grand Canyon; sophomore goalkeeper George Kelley, Houston Baptist; and senior goalkeeper Jake Feener, Seattle U.
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