Monday, October 31, 2011

Fifth-year senior defender Stefan Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson [College of Lake County/Marquette]) was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week after helping to anchor the Valparaiso backline in a pair of shutouts last week.

Antonijevic’s effort at center back helped the Crusaders earn clean sheets at Loyola on Wednesday and against UIC on Saturday in a pair of 1-0 victories that put Valpo in position to clinch at least a share of the Horizon League regular season title.  The Crusader backline held Loyola to just four total shots, none of which were on frame, and limited UIC to just six efforts.

The fifth-year senior has been a big part of Valpo’s defensive surge over the past few weeks, as the Crusaders have now set program records for most consecutive shutouts (5) and longest shutout streak (nearly 484 minutes).  Over the five straight clean sheets, Antonijevic has played all but one minute, and in fact has come off the pitch for just 31 minutes in all this season.