Blakely Mattern (South Carolina/Simpsonville, S.C.) and Marco Mangione (Towson/Parkville, Md.) have been named the NSCAA National Players of the Week for Oct. 14.

Mattern scored two goals while anchoring a defense that allowed only four shots on frame against conference foes Auburn and Alabama, while Mangione tallied three of the four goals scored by the Tigers in a pair of 2-1 wins, including a victory over No. 20 Old Dominion.

Each week, a male and female player will be selected from a nomination pool comprised of players of the week from each NCAA Division I soccer conference. The players will be announced each Wednesday afternoon from now until Nov. 11 through NSCAA.com, the official website of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. They also will be recognized at halftime of the NSCAA College Game of the Week on Fox Soccer Channel, a schedule of 20 men’s and women’s intercollegiate matches.

In this week’s Friday night men’s game, Boston University (7-4-2) will try to snap out of a two-game losing spin against host Binghamton (6-5-1) in an America East clash that will begin at 8 p.m. ET.

Blakely Mattern
D, Sr., South Carolina, Simpsonville, S.C.
Mattern led unbeaten No. 7 South Carolina to two shutout victories in SEC action. As team captain and leader of the nation’s top-ranked defense, Mattern scored two goals for four points and helped limit Auburn and Alabama to a combined four shots on goal in 187 minutes of action. Against Alabama, Mattern scored on headers 100 seconds apart (11:07 & 12:47) for her team-leading third game-winning goal of the season, moving her to ninth on South Carolina’s all-time scoring list with 36 career points on the same day she tied the program record with her 81st career start. She also helped limit Alabama to only one shot on goal after the team held Auburn to only three. With the shutouts, Mattern’s unit now leads the nation with 11 shutouts and also sports a team goals-against average of 0.21 after allowing only three goals through the first 14 games of the season.

Marco Mangione
MF, Jr., Towson, Parkville, Md.
Mangione scored three of Towson’s four goals in the Tigers’ 2-1 victories over George Mason and No. 20 Old Dominion last week. The junior converted a penalty kick that tied the contest at Mason and then scored both Towson goals in the triumph over ODU. Mangione is tied for the CAA lead with seven goals.

This Year’s Recipients
Sept. 2: Women – Corky Julien, James Madison; Men – no selection
Sept. 9: Women – Jessica Price, Florida State; Men – Andrew Bulls, UMBC
Sept. 16: Women – Aline Reis, Central Florida; Men – Steffen Vroom, DePaul
Sept. 23: Women – Whitney Hooper, Texas A&M; Men – Yannick Salmon, Rutgers
Sept. 30: Women – Tiffany McCarty, Florida State; Men – Kevin Tangney, Maryland
Oct. 7: Women – Kristin Carden, Virginia Tech; Men – Sean Kelley, George Mason

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