VIDEO: Twan Verweij Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The South Atlantic Conference named goalkeeper Twan Verweij the AstroTurf SAC Men's Soccer Player of the Week on Monday after helping the Eagles achieve six consecutive clean sheets with a 7-1-1 record at the midway point of the season.
This is the first conference honor for the Utrecht, Netherlands native and the first time in program history a Carson-Newman goalkeeper has been given Player of the Week honors. The last goalkeeper to receive the accolade from the SAC was Tusculum's Jorge Alvarez the week of Sept. 19, 2016.
Verweij finished the week with three saves over two road games, grabbing two saves at Alabama Huntsville and one at Anderson. C-N has seven clean sheets this season, six being shutout victories.
"Of course you hope to you don't have to make many saves, well, that would be the best, of course," Verweij mentioned. "You just have to try to be focused, just make sure the defense is doing its work, coaching them and coaching each other.
"You just have to prepare yourself every time and, so far, it's going well, so (if we) just keep doing this then we'll be fine."
After Saturday's victory, the senior now has six shutouts on the season, 6.1 overall with a combined shutout against Newberry on Sept. 16. He stands at fifth on the individual season records list for shutouts and is in sixth place for the career records list. He is 6-1-1 in front of the net this season.
The net minder has 19 saves on the season. His highest number was recorded in a 2-0 victory over Queens (N.C.) on Sept. 23, saving all seven shots that the Royals set on goal. As a team, the Eagles have allowed just four goals through nine games. They have not allowed an opposing team to make their way onto the scoreboard since a 4-2 win over Clayton State on Sept. 9, a streak that has covered six games and 565 minutes of play.
"For us, it's becoming a thing, a lot of shutouts, so every time, in the beginning of a match, we say, 'OK, guys, another shutout, another clean sheet,'" Verweij said. "Of course the focus, first, is on winning, but for defense, it's quite nice to have some shutouts."
Following a successful month of September, Verweij and the Eagles have eight games left in the 2017 campaign with just two home matchups remaining, both being major conference rivalry games. The first of those will take place on Wednesday as C-N hosts the Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial.
"For me, another clean sheet would be great and for the defense as well," Verweij said.
Wednesday's match with LMU will begin at 7:30 p.m. at McCown Field.