Oren Asher named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
The Rutgers men’s soccer team earned its first individual honor of the 2021 season on Tuesday when junior goalkeeper Oren Asher was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
Asher, who is in his third season as the Scarlet Knights’ (1-0-1, 0-0-0) starting goalkeeper, had shutouts in both the Temple and Delaware matches. His performance in the first two games of the season makes him 1 of just 5 goalkeepers in the nation to not concede a goal through 200 or more minutes of play.
“I don’t really care for these awards,” Asher said following the honor. “I think (these clean sheets) are a team effort, so I don’t really take the whole credit for it. For me, it’s all about the team.”
In the season opener against the Blue Hens (0-2-0, 0-0-0), Asher made four saves as Rutgers beat Delaware 2-0. In Monday night’s overtime draw against the Owls (0-0-2, 0-0-0), Asher had one save in the 58th minute — a point-blank shot from the left side of the 6-yard box.
The award marks the third time in Asher’s career that he’s earned the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award after earning two during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season that was played this past spring.
Asher is coming off of an improved sophomore campaign in the spring, where he finished with a 1.24 goals-against average and had shutouts in 4 of his 9 games that year. His performance in the spring also earned him the Bob McNulty MVP Award.
Asher and the Knights will return to the field this Friday, as they look to remain unbeaten in a road matchup with in-state rival Princeton at 7 p.m.
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