Men's Soccer Student-Athlete Earns NAIA Award
Marshall, Mo., (Oct. 22, 2024)- A Missouri Valley College men's soccer student-athlete has earned a National honor from the NAIA for his performance in two victories last week.
Junior Goalkeeper Cristobal Benitez Delgado (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) has been named the NAIA Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week, for his effort in two shutout victories.
Benitez Delgado led the No. 7 Vikings to a 1-0 win over No. 5 Bellevue (Neb.), with two key saves in the contest. His efforts helped the team secure its highest ranked opponent victory in three years, defeating No. 4 Columbia (Mo.), 2-1, back on Aug. 29, 2021.
On Saturday, Benitez Delgado came up with three crucial saves to help secure a 1-0 victory over Park (Mo.). This was the team's seventh shutout of the season. Benitez Delgado now has 39 saves and a goals against average of 0.68.
This is the first National weekly award for Benitez Delgado in his career, and he becomes the first men's soccer player to earn a weekly award from the NAIA since Dominic Newton won the offensive award back on Oct. 17, 2018.
Benitez Delgado was also named the Heart of America Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week, presented by WinWon, for his effort in last week's victories. This was the second weekly Heart award of the season, and fifth of his career.
The Viking men's soccer team is 11-1-2 overall and 7-0-1 in the Heart. Next on the schedule is a road Heart game at Baker (Kan.), Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
About Missouri Valley College
Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.