NEW ORLEANS – After playing key roles for their teams last week against a pair of conference opponents, Marshall’s Pablo Simon and James Madison’s Enrique Garcia Barelles earned the league’s weekly accolades.
Offensive Player of the Week
Pablo Simon, Marshall
[JR | M | Elche, Alicante, Spain]
Pablo Simon played a major role in the No. 1 Marshall's 6-1 win over Coastal Carolina with a six-point match on two goals and two assists. Simon's first tally, the eventual game-winner, came off a pass from Matthew Bell as he then used a spin move to beat the Chanticleer defender and find the back of the goal in the ninth minute. The junior's second of the contest came in the 53rd minute when he put in a direct rebound off a Bell shot on goal. Simon then added assists on a pair of crosses finding Rai Pinto for a header goal in the 65th minute followed by another cross that found Aymane Sordo, who bicycled it home, in the 70th minute with the goal being No. 5 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays of the day. The contest was Simon's first multi-goal, multi-assist and multi-goal contribution contest of his career.
Defensive Player of the Week
Enrique Garcia Barelles, James Madison
[JR | D | Valencia, Spain]
The Duke’s Enrique Garcia Barelles helped anchor a backline that shutout Kentucky for the fourth James Madison clean sheet of the season. The Wildcats were only able to put three of their 10 shots on goal. Garcia Barelles has logged 1,048 minutes on the pitch for the Dukes, a mark that ranks second on the squad.
2023 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Offensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – Matthew Bell, Marshall
Week 2 – Marco Silva, Marshall
Week 3 – Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia
Week 4 – Matthew Bell, Marshall
Week 5 – Adam Aoumaich, Marshall
Week 6 – Yutaro Tsukada, West Virginia
Week 7 – Ethan Dekel Daks, South Carolina
Week 8 – Pablo Simon, Marshall
2023 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Defensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – Luca Nikolai, James Madison
Week 2 – Zane Bubb, UCF
Week 3 – Carlos Hernando, West Virginia
Week 4 – Ben Alexander, South Carolina
Week 5 - Nate Martinez, Georgia Southern
Week 6 – Juanvi Muñoz, UCF
Week 7 – Robbie Soronellas, UCF
Week 8 - Enrique Garcia Barelles, James Madison