Lobo men's soccer player Jeff Rowland was named the National Player of the Week by CollegeSoccerNews.com after scoring five goals in two games last weekend.
UNM came from two goals back in their first game to beat Delaware, 3-2. Rowland, a junior, tallied his first career hat trick in the game.
The Lobos faced the No. 13 team in the country, Virginia Commonwealth University, in their second game. Thanks to Rowland's prowess around the goal, they managed to pull off a come-from-behind 2-1 win in overtime.
Rowland said he was excited to receive such an honor, but said it was more important the team performed well.
"It feels pretty awesome to get such an award at the beginning of the season," he said. "But the most important thing was that we won both our games and showed that we can come from behind and still win games."
The Lobos leapfrogged from No. 28 to No. 22 in CollegeSoccerNews.com's national polls after the two wins. They take on Loyola Marymount and Cal State Northridge this weekend in California.
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Rowland, a former walk-on, is two goals away from his season total last year when he was the leading scorer on the team.
"I came into this season definitely with something to prove," Rowland said. "After last season, me or any of the guys on the team were determined to work hard and make sure that we didn't repeat our mistakes."
