GREENWOOD – Dean Cowdroy and Richard Bryan were honored by the Peach Belt Conference as Goalkeeper of the Week and Defender of the Week, the league office announced today.
Cowdroy, a freshman from Canberra, Australia, earned his fourth weekly honor this season and second in a row after registering his third straight shutout in a 5-0 win over Mars Hill, then making two saves in a come-from-behind win over Young Harris. The freshman allowed only two goals on the week for a 0.92 GAA. Against Young Harris, he kept the Mountain Lions off the board for the final 49 minutes of play, including 17 OT minutes, in the 3-2 win that moved the Bearcats to 6-0 in league play. Cowdroy leads the PBC in shutouts, is second in GAA and third in save percentage. The Bearcat goalkeeper is just the second player in Peach Belt Conference history to earn PBC Goalkeeper of the Week honors four times in one season and the first since 2009.
Bryan, a sophomore from Enfield, England, anchored a Lander defense that allowed only two goals in two wins last week, including the teams’ fifth shutout of the season. The sophomore also contributed on the offensive end with a pair of assists in the 5-0 win over Mars Hill and a cruicial penalty kick goal in Lander’s 3-2 rally over Young Harris. The goal against the Mountain Lions was his first of the season. The Lander defense held Mars Hill to only two shots, none on goal, and shut down Young Harris after the Mountain Lions had taken a 2-0 lead. Over the last 50 minutes of that match (30 minutes of regulation and two overtime periods), Lander kept the top-scoring offense in the PBC off the board and held the Mountain Lions to three shots in the OT periods. Lander is second as a team in GAA at 1.14 with only 14 goals allowed and their five shutouts is best in the conference.
