Sept. 14, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern men's soccer junior forward Matt Eliason (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) has been recognized for his outstanding weekend by being named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week as well as Top Drawer Soccer's National Player of the Week.
The Big Ten honor is the second of his career as he earned his first virtually one year ago to the date. He is the first Wildcat to be named Top Drawer Soccer's top national weekly honor since Misha Rosenthal was recognized Sept. 22, 2008.
Eliason was named the MVP of the adidas/Magnuson Inn and Suites Invitational hosted by Northern Illinois University after he scored two goals in each of Northwestern's two wins. Each of the victories came against teams that appeared in last year's NCAA tournament.
On Friday, Eliason tallied two first-half goals as NU defeated Oakland 2-1. Then on Sunday against 21st-ranked Tulsa, he gave the Wildcats a second-half lead by converting a penalty kick before giving Northwestern the victory by notching the game-winning goal with 1:19 remaining in the first overtime.
Eliason leads the Big Ten with seven goals in just four games so far this season. His 24 career scores in just over two seasons are only six shy of the Northwestern all-time record. He has three multi-goal games this year and also tallied one against DePaul last Monday.
Northwestern (2-1-1) was ranked No. 22 in last week's NSCAA poll and returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Lakeside Field against South Carolina as part of the annual Lakeside Classic.