STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern junior Javier Carbonell and freshman Gonzalo Talavera have been named the Sun Belt Conference's Men's Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, announced by league officials on Tuesday.
The Eagles sweep the weekly conference awards for the first time this season and the first time since Sept. 20th, 2016, when Blake Wilson and Emil Laursen earned the weekly Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week awards.
A midfielder/forward from Madrid, Spain, Carbonell delivered assists on both of Georgia Southern's goals in Saturday's 2-1 win over preseason SBC favorite Coastal Carolina. His free kick in the second minute set up Gonzalo Talavera's header for the first goal of the match, then just one minute and 19 seconds later, his through ball into the box sprung Aldair Cortes free for his first goal of the season.
Carbonell's pair of assists gives him a Sun Belt Conference-leading four so far this season. In addition to his Sun Belt honor, Carbonell was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week. All four of his assists have come in the Eagles' three wins this season.
Meanwhile, Talavera played the full 90 minutes at center back for Georgia Southern in the win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday. His second-minute goal was the first goal of his collegiate career and through six games this season, Talavera has not missed a single minute of action, logging 550 minutes. The Madrid, Spain, native has two shots this season - both on goal - and earlier in the year was an All-Tournament honoree at the Aaron Olitsky Tournament in Charleston, S.C.
"I'm quite pleased that both Javier and Gonzalo have been single out for their efforts from the league," Head Coach John Murphy said. "Everything we do for this program is a team effort. They know that awards like this come because of their effort and the effort of their teammates. We look forward to growing together as a team as the season progresses."
Click here to view the full weekly award release from the Sun Belt Conference.
The Eagles are in action on Tuesday night, visiting Winthrop for a 7 p.m. non-conference contest in Rock Hill, S.C. You can view live stats of the match here.
