Green collects second River States Conference Defensive Player of the Week Award of season; third of career

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- Behind a week that saw senior goalkeeper Eric Green make five total saves and post two defensive clean sheets in goal in 1-0 victories over Indiana-Columbus and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, the local product of Wheelersburg was named as the River States Conference's Defensive Player of the Week, as announced by conference officials Monday afternoon.

Green was terrific defensively for the Bears, making saves on all five attempts that he faced with four of his five saves coming in the second half of competition. The senior stopped shots in the 24th, 56th and 70th minutes against Indiana-Columbus, then made two saves over the final 25 minutes of play against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in two 1-0 victories.

A reliable force throughout his career in a Shawnee State uniform, Green is one of three players to play in and start all 16 contests this season for the Bears -- the other two being João Coqueti Léo and Guilherme Bitencourt -- and is a two-sport athlete (men's swimming in addition to men's soccer) that holds a cumulative GPA well above 3.8 in biomedical sciences.

His standout efforts in both the classroom and as a two-sport athlete have made Green a valued piece to the athletic department as a whole -- as Green is a captain on the men's soccer squad alongside Bitencourt and Nikos Pontikis and serves as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board.

For the 2024 season, Green holds a 7-7-2 overall record between the posts -- the same as the SSU men's soccer record -- and has made 68 saves en route to a 1.76 goals-against-average.

Green, along with Guillermo Conejo Martin and Matt Stam, will be honored as part of Senior Night festivities when the Shawnee State men's soccer team plays Midway (Ky.) at 8 p.m. Wednesday evening at Shawnee Turf in Portsmouth.