Monday, September 18, 2006

For the first time in his four-year career, midfielder Jeremy Stacy (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) has been named the Mid-Continent Conference's Offensive Player of the Week.

Stacy, who has played in 48 straight matches since arriving at Valpo four years ago, scored his first goal since 2004 in Friday's 2-0 conference win over Oral Roberts, giving Valpo 2-0 lead with just over five minutes to go.

On Sunday, Stacy helped get the Crusaders on the board first against Cleveland State, finding John Allendorf (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) with a pretty cross through the box for Stacy's team-leading fourth assist of the season.

Stacy now has 13 assists in his career, tied with D.J. Catrow (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) for third on Valpo's all-time assist list, three behind leader Brian Thiel. Stacy's four assists and six points this season match his sophomore year as the best, statistically, of his career.

The senior is the third Valpo player in the season's four weeks to earn Offensive Player of the Week honors from the Mid-Con, joining Catrow and Paul Leitelt (Munster, Ind./Munster.

Stacy and the Crusaders (5-3-0, 1-0-0) will be back on the field Saturday afternoon in Shreveport, La. to take on conference rival Centenary at 3:00 p.m. The Brown and Gold will be back at home Saturday, September 30 when they face off with defending league champion Oakland at 12:00 p.m.