NEW ORLEANS – West Virginia senior forward Pablo Pozos and South Carolina senior defender Mika Habel have earned Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively, following the fourth week of the 2026 season.
 
Pozos, a Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection and Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, is a year removed from a 2025 All-SBC First Team selection while Habel repeats on the Defensive Player of the Week listing for the first time since Sept. 30, 2025.
 
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Pablo Pozos, West Virginia
(Senior | Forward | Madrid, Spain)
 
Pozos put up eight points on three goals and two assists in an undefeated week for the Mountaineers. West Virginia picked up withs over George Mason (Sept. 7) and Denver (Sept. 11) thanks to his efforts. He opened the week by adding in a goal against George Mason in a 2-1 final in favor of WVU.
 
Against Denver, Pozos posted a brace with two goals and two assists in the Mountaineer’s 5-0 victory. It was his fourth time posting multiple goals in a game at West Virginia and first time in his career with multiple goals and assists in the same contest.
 
Heading into conference play, Pozos leads the Sun Belt Conference in total shots and shots per game with 17 and 3.40, respectively, in five games played. He also ranks top five in shots on goal with 10, four goals scored and 10 total points (four goals, two assists).
 
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Mika Habel, South Carolina
(Senior | Defender | Regensburg, Germany)
 
Habel led a Gamecock defense that turned in two clean sheets on the week, including a 2-0 win over No. 14 High Point, to keep South Carolina undefeated. The defensive shutouts were the program’s first back-to-back shutouts this season and first since Sept. 23-28 last season.
 
From the backline, Habel had a hand in two of South Carolina’s three goals on the week, drilling a rare corner kick goal against No. 14 High Point (Sept. 7) for the Gamecocks’ second score of the night. Against UNCG (Sept. 11), his corner kick resulted in an own-goal that proved to be the decider in the 1-0 decision.
 
Habel leads the Sun Belt with four assists on the year and is a key contributor to No. 6 South Carolina’s undefeated start to the 2026 campaign. He ranks second on the squad in points with eight after starting in all six matches. Habel is the third Gamecock to notch a Player of the Week honor this season and first to do so as a Defensive Player of the Week.
 
2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Offensive Players of the Week
Week 1 (Aug. 25) – Loïc Sany Kong, F, South Carolina
Week 2 (Sept. 1) – Alejandro Velaszquez-Lopez, M, South Carolina
Week 3 (Sept. 8) – Lewis Rourke, F, Old Dominion
Week 4 (Sept. 15) – Pablo Pozos, F, West Virginia
 
2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Defensive Players of the Week
Week 1 (Aug. 25) – Will Devine, GK, Coastal Carolina
Week 2 (Sept. 1) – Takahiro Fujita, D, UCF
Week 3 (Sept. 8) – Sandro Rabarivony, D, Georgia State
Week 4 (Sept. 15) – Mika Habel, D, South Carolina