TAMPA (Sept. 16, 2019) – The USF men’s soccer team had a quartet of standouts earn weekly American Athletic Conference honors, the league announced on Monday. Javain Brown (Kinston, Jamaica) was named Defensive Player of the Week, Harrison Devenish-Meares (Sydney, Australia) was named Goalkeeper of the Week and Victor Claudel (Strasbourg, France) was tabbed Rookie of the Week. Emilio Ycaza (St. Petersburg, Fla.) was named to the AAC honor roll. The Bulls, 3-1 on the year, posted a 2-0 record last week with wins over No. 5 Louisville (2-0) and Lipscomb (3-1). USF is off to its best start since the 2012 campaign.
Brown was on the defensive side of the ball for both of the Bulls’ matches, and was a major factor in USF giving up just one goal on the week, and nine shots on goal, and shutting out Louisville. The Cardinals had won 3-0 in back-to-back matches coming into the game with the Bulls.
Devenish-Meares was in net for both matches and recorded eight saves while allowing just one goal, with that coming against Lipscomb. He posted his fourth career shutout against No. 5 Louisville.
Claudel, who earned honor roll recognition on Sept. 9, scored the insurance goal in the shutout against No. 5 Louisville, serving up a sliding pass to Avionne Flanagan (Baltimore, Md.), who went one-on-two, beating both defenders and putting a spectacular bending shot on net only to have it saved but producing a rebound. Claudel, who never quit after the pass, found himself in the right place at the right time taking the rebound in mid-air and sent it past the Cardinals net minder to make the score 2-0 in the 19th minute. During the week, he had five shots, including three against Louisville. He is currently tied for the team lead in points with four.
Ycaza scored his first two goals of the 2019 season at Lipscomb, including the game winner, with both goals coming within 25 seconds of each other in the 55th minute of play. He recorded three shots in the match against the Bisons. Ycaza currently shares the team lead in points scored with four.
The Bulls return to the pitch on Tuesday at 7 p.m., when they welcome Ohio State to Corbett Stadium.
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