Habel Named SBC Defensive Player of the Week
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina men’s soccer junior midfielder Mika Habel earned Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors, the league announced today. He led the Gamecocks to a pair of shutout victories, including netting his first career game-winning goal.
“Mika Habel anchored our back line across 163 minutes of action in two consecutive shutout victories,” South Carolina head coach Tony Annan said. “His defensive presence and organization were key in keeping clean sheets in both 1-0 results. Mika also contributed on the attacking end, scoring the game-winning goal at James Madison to secure the road Sun Belt victory.”
The Gamecocks improved to 7-3-1 on the season with last week’s wins over Queens and James Madison, which was the team’s first SBC win of the year. The Habel-led defense held Queens to one shot on goal in the first 1-0 win over the week. In Sunday night’s SBC action at JMU, the defense also nullified the Monarchs’ attack, yielding just three shots with just one on goal. In the 84th minute, Habel delivered the 1-0 Gamecock victory when his high arching shot sailed just over the keeper and into the far post.
Habel is the fifth Gamecock to earn SBC Player of the Week honors this season. He joins defensive honorees Yvan Malarte and Williams Nilsson and offensive selections Tyler Trimnal and Ethan Ballek.
South Carolina is back in action on Sat., Oct. 4, hosting Sun Belt rival UCF at Stone Stadium at 7 p.m.
For the latest on men’s soccer, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockMSoccer, Facebook /GamecockMSoccer, and Instagram @GamecockMSoccer.
