Men's Soccer Southern Conference

Bates Earns Final Men's Soccer Player of the Week Honor

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Georgia Southern goalkeeper Neal Bates has been named the Southern Conference men’s soccer player of the week for all competition Oct. 28 to Nov. 5. The selection is made by the league office. The weekly award is the final one of the 2013 men’s soccer season.

Bates went 2-0 with a 0.96 goals against average and 14 saves to lead the Eagles to wins over No. 14 Furman and James Madison, both on the road. He posted a save percentage of .875 on the week.

Against Furman on Oct. 29, the Watkinsville, Ga., senior posted seven saves and allowed one goal in GSU’s 2-1, overtime win over the nationally ranked Paladins. He followed that up with another seven saves in a 2-1 win over James Madison on Sunday, again allowing just one goal to pick up the win.

Bates is among the national leaders in saves, as his 102 on the season are good for second in NCAA Division I, while his 6.00 saves per game put him sixth nationally.

The weekly award is the first of Bates’ career.

The sixth-seeded Eagles will take on No. 3 seed UNCG on Saturday in the first round of the SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship. That match will take place in Greensboro, N.C., at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the semifinals at Furman’s Stone Stadium in Greenville, S.C., on Nov. 15.

Also nominated: Valeriy Sviderskiy (Davidson), Jason Waterman (Elon) and Forrest Lasso (Wofford).


2013 Men’s Soccer Players of the Week
Sept. 3    Martin Ontiveros, Furman
Sept. 10    Stephen Moffitt, UNCG
Sept. 17    Nestor Jaramillo, Wofford
Sept. 24    Nathan Dean, Elon
Oct. 1    Tyler Peoples, Furman
Oct. 8    Nathan Dean, Elon
Oct. 15    Sven Lissek, Furman
Oct. 22    Bobby Edet, Furman
Oct. 29    Dustin Gamradt, UNCG
Nov. 6    Neal Bates, Georgia Southern

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