Monday, October 24, 2011

A pair of shutouts and a new program single-season record was enough for Valparaiso redshirt junior goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West) to garner Horizon League Men’s Soccer Player of the Week honors, as announced by the league office this morning.  The weekly honor was the first of Zobeck’s career.

Zobeck kept both of the Crusaders’ opponents last week off the scoreboard, shutting out IPFW in non-league action on Tuesday before recording a clean sheet in a key league battle with Milwaukee on Saturday night.  The junior had to make just one save apiece in both matches, but dealt tremendously with numerous crosses and set pieces over the course of both contests.  Zobeck has now registered three straight shutouts and extended his scoreless streak in goal to 295 minutes.

The pair of clean sheets increases Zobeck’s season total to eight shutouts, as he first tied and then surpassed Ryan Schwarz’s previous Crusader single-season record of seven shutouts from the 2009 season.  Zobeck, who leads the Horizon League in both shutouts and goals against average (0.76), is now just two shutouts away from cracking the league’s single-season top-10.  The junior now owns 15 career shutouts, second all-time in the Valpo annals and just two shy of Schwarz’s career record in the category.