ROCK HILL, S.C. – Following his first clean sheet of the season, Bram Kaarsgaren has been lauded as the South Atlantic Conference AstroTurf Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week, as announced by the league office on Wednesday morning.
This is the second straight week that an Eagle has received the honor. C-N has not seen such a feat since the 2017 season when Twan Verweij and Tobias Solem Karlsen went back-to-back for the weekly awards on October 2 and 9, respectively.
The latest plaudit brings Kaarsgaren up to three Player of the Week honors in his career, this being the first since Oct. 15, 2019.
C-N's netminder picked up his first shutout of the season in the 0-0 draw at Limestone on February 19. He saved all three of the shots that the Saints landed on frame in the match, moving to 1-0-1 on the year. He is currently sixth in team history with 10 wins.
First shot on goal of the contest, meet @bramkaarsgaren
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) February 19, 2021
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⚜ @LimestoneSaints 0
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On the season, Kaarsgaren has made five saves in just under 177 minutes of play, the most time on the pitch among SAC keepers thus far. He has a .833 save percentage with 0.51 goals against average.
For his career, the Den Bosch, The Netherlands native is tied for eighth in program history for most career shutouts at 5.1. The last one he tallied came in a 1-0 double-overtime win at Catawba on Oct. 26, 2019.
Kaarsgaren and the Eagles open the gates to McCown Field on Thursday evening, hosting Lincoln Memorial to commence league action. That match is slated to begin at 5 p.m.
2020-21 SAC AstroTurf Men's Soccer Players of the Week
Offensive Player of the Week
Feb. 17 – Theo Hardenby Öhrwall, Carson-Newman
Feb. 24 – Damien Baltide, Tusculum
Defensive Player of the Week
Feb. 17 - Brennan Whalen, Mars Hill
Feb. 24 – Bram Kaarsgaren, Carson-Newman
