DENVER – California Baptist's Bryan Iliohan and Grand Canyon's Rafael Guerrero been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for September 20 through September 26.
Iliohan, a junior forward from Nieuw-Wennep, North Holland, Netherlands, made scoring a habit this week, netting five total goals in a pair of road matches. On Monday afternoon, he scored twice in the Lancers' 4-1 win over St. Thomas (Minn.). He then followed that up with a hat trick in Las Vegas, scoring all three CBU goals in a 3-1 win over UNLV on Saturday night.
Guerrero, a freshman goalkeeper from Tucson, Ariz., was the hero of the match against Seattle U, making eight saves to secure his third shutout in four games. His final save was costly as he collided with an oncoming Seattle U player and had to be transported to a local hospital by ambulance but he was awake and talking about the game on Saturday night as GCU announced on Sunday that his condition has improved. His three shutouts lead the WAC this season and he is among the top three in both save percentage and goals-against average.
Other offensive nominees: Air Force's Tristan Trager had the game-winning goal in the Falcon's WAC-opening 2-0 win over San José State … Grand Canyon's Georg Bjarnason scored his first career goal right before halftime as the 19th-ranked Lopes defeated Seattle U, 1-0 … San José State's Willy Miranda led the Spartans with three shots in a 2-0 loss at Air Force … UT Rio Grande Valley's Reshaun Walkes assisted on the first goal and then scored the second goal as UTRGV defeated Chicago State, 2-0 … Utah Valley's Evans Armah earned his first career brace with a pair of second half goals in a 2-1 win at Dixie State.
Other defensive nominees: Air Force's Kainoa Likewise made two saves to earn the shutout win over San José State in the Falcons' WAC opener … Chicago State's Shaquan Reid led the Cougar defense into their first ever WAC match against UT Rio Grande Valley, falling 2-0 … UT Rio Grande Valley's Oliver Padilla made the only save he needed to make to secure the 2-0 shutout win at Chicago State … Utah Valley's Mateo Palomino helped limit Dixie State to just three shots in the Wolverines' 2-1 win.