Bowling Green State University Athletics
Van Houten Repeats as MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week
November 02, 2007 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 2, 2007
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Hunter Van Houten (soccer) and Western Michigan's Alex Birchmeier (tennis) were named the MAC Male Scholar Athletes of the Week on November 1, 2007.
Van Houten (midfielder, So., 3.85, health science, Valparaiso, Ind.) notched a goal and an assist in back-to-back Falcon wins last weekend and was the second Falcon to score a goal in consecutive matches at home. Against Detroit, Van Houten's goal late in the 26th minute of the contest was a direct result of Cameron Hepple's offensive prowess luring the UDM keeper at an angle into the deep end of the box. Despite UDM's defensive rotation, Hepple caught Van Houten with a head-on shot and a seemingly empty net. The goal was the first for the sophomore this season and was the third occasion in which he had a hand in the Falcons lighting the scoreboard.
Against MAC foe, Western Michgian, Van Houten used the Falcons' third and final corner kick to find Hepple close to the goal on the opposite side of the field. Van Houten was credited with the final home goal of the contest as he used a Falcon to bounce off the near post and into the netting less than five minutes after assisting on Hepple's shot. The Falcons' critical win broke the league tie-breaker between the squads. BGSU is now 1-2-1 in conference play and 5-9-3 on the season.
Van Houten extended his scoring tear on Friday (Nov. 2) afternoon as he scored in his third consecutive match of the season. Over the past three contests, Van Houten has picked-up eight points; coincidentally that is the same tally as combined opponents Detroit, Western Michigan and Northern Illinois scored against the Falcon defense.
Van Houten also earned the award on September 21, 2007 and is the reigning MAC Player of the Week.
Birchmeier (Sr., 3.93, psychology, Midland, Mich.) tied for first in the Vredevelt Invitational going 3-0 with scores of 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. He has a career high of 148 wins moving him into 21st all-time at Western Michigan. Birchmeier is also a two-time Academic All-MAC honoree. The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition. The winners are selected by a group of the conference's faculty athletic representatives
Other Nominees:
Buffalo: Connor Vander Zalm (swimming, distance freestyle, So., 3.721, management, Kelowna, British Columbia) won both distance freestyle races at the WNY Invitational to open the men's swim season.
Central Michigan: Matt Loiselle (cross country, Sr., 3.28, accounting, Windsor, Ont.) placed ninth overall at the 2007 MAC Championships to earn second team All-MAC honors. It marked the fourth consecutive season in which he was an All-MAC honoree. Loiselle covered the 8k course in 25:19. CMU placed third as a team at the championship meet.
Eastern Michigan: Josh Karanja (cross country, Jr., 3.20, political science, Ottawa, Canada) helped lead the Eagles to their third consecutive Mid-American Conference title on Saturday. He finished third overall in a time of 24:49 to earn first team All-MAC accolades. This is the third year in a row that he has earned All-MAC honors. In 2005 he was sixth and in 2006 he was seventh.
Northern Illinois: Kyle Knotek (soccer, midfielder, So., 4.0, business, Geneva, Ill.) started in both of NIU's matches during the week, including the Huskies' 2-1 double-overtime upset of No. 9 Northwestern.
Previous Winners
Week 1 (Sept. 6) Marques Parks, BGSU (football)
Week 2 (Sept. 13) Tim Hiller, WMU (football)
Week 3 (Sept. 20) Hunter Van Houten, BGSU (soccer)
Week 4 (Sept. 27) Andy Schmitt, EMU (football)
Week 5 (Oct. 4) Red Keith, CMU (football)
Jared Miller, UT (tennis)
Week 6 (Oct. 11) Tim Hiller, WMU (football)
Week 7 (Oct. 18) Craig Leon, Ohio (cross country)
Week 8 (Oct. 25) Elliot Bradbrook, UA (soccer)
Week 9 (Nov. 1) Alex Birchmeier, WMU (tennis)
Hunter Van Houten, BGSU (soccer)
Some information courtesy of www.mac-sports.com
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