For the second consecutive week, a Wisconsin men’s soccer goalie has been honored with the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Week award. Junior tri-captain Eric Hanson was recognized with the award this week, while freshman Jake Settle was last week’s winner.
In two road games last week, Hanson gathered 11 saves, with six coming against UW-Milwaukee and the other five against conference-opponent Penn State. In both games, Hanson shut out his opponents to lead the Badgers to 1-0 victories.
Hanson’s two shutouts last week give him four on the season, and ties him with Michigan’s Peter Dzubay for tops in the Big Ten. As a team, Wisconsin leads the conference with six shutout victories. Hanson is tied for second in the Big Ten with 44 saves.
Prior to missing time for an injury this year, Hanson had played in every minute of every game. A Madison native, Hanson attended La Follette High School. He took over the starting goalkeeper job in the spring of 2002, after not playing in the 2001 fall season. In 2002, his first season as a starter, he posted five shutouts and finished third in the conference with a 4.05 saves per game average. He is majoring in political science.
Monday marks the second time in Hanson’s career that he was recognized as the conference’s top defensive player. He shared the honor last season with John Swann of Indiana for the week of Sept. 2. Hanson was also named the defensive MVP of the Rocky Rococo Classic held earlier this season.
-compiled from staff reports
