SI
Seraphin Iradukunda
  • Burlington, VT

Seraphin Iradukunda Earns NAC Weekly Men's Soccer Award

2017 Oct 4

Coming off a 1-0-1 week including a shutout victory over conference foe Colby-Sawyer, Aaron Parker and Seraphin Iradukunda of the Castleton men's soccer team have been named North Atlantic Conference Defensive Player and Co-Rookie of the Week, respectively, as announced Monday afternoon, Oct. 2, by the league office.

Parker went 1-0-1 with 15 saves in two starts in goal. The senior opened the week with eight saves, including two in the overtime periods, to preserve a 1-1, double-overtime draw at intrastate rival Norwich. He followed that up with arguably one of his strongest games of the season, holding the Chargers off the board for 90 minutes with seven saves total, including five in the second half alone. Parker has been stellar of late, as he has allowed two goals over his last five starts en route to a pair of shutout victories.

Backed by the strong defensive performance against Colby-Sawyer, Iradukunda provided the Spartans' offense with both goals in the 2-0 win over the Chargers. The freshman first broke away from the defense and beat the keeper short side to stake the Spartans to an early 1-0 lead just over three minutes into the match. His second goal set the tone early in the second half as he split the defense and hammered home his own rebound to double the Spartans' lead in the 47th minute. Impressively, the forward is the first conference player to net two goals on the Chargers this season, plus his two goals were the most scored by any NAC team this season on Colby-Sawyer. His two goals helped Castleton remain unbeaten in conference play and move into a tie with Thomas for first place in the conference. Iradukunda ranks tied for third in the conference in goals (6) and leads the team with 14 points on the season.

Parker is making his first appearance of the season on the NAC weekly awards list, while this is the second time Iradukunda has garnered Rookie of the Week honors.