Oct. 11, 2010

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy men's soccer goalkeeper Aaron Dupere has been named the Patriot League / BRINE Rookie of the Week, the league office announced on Monday afternoon.

It's the first career weekly honor for Dupere and the eighth weekly accolade won by the Navy men's soccer team so far this year. The Mids won just nine awards combined in the five-year span from 2005-09. Navy has won at least one weekly honor in each of the six weeks the league has handed out awards this year. The eight awards are the most in the Patriot League.

Navy freshmen have won six of the eight weekly awards won by the Midshipmen (four Rookie of the Week, one offensive POW, one defensive POW).

Dupere, a freshman from Royal Palm Beach, Fla., had a strong week in goal, helping the Midshipmen draw against both Howard (1-1) and Lehigh (0-0). In the 1-1 tie with Howard, Dupere made one save, then tallied four saves in the scoreless draw with Lehigh on Saturday night. For the week, Dupere had a save percentage of .833 with a GAA of 0.41 and an 0-0-2 record.

Dupere has played all but 25 minutes in goal this year with a 0.59 GAA and an .838 save percentage, stopping 31 shots while giving up just six tallies this year. His 31 saves rank as the third most by a freshman in school history. He has recorded four shutouts while tallying a 6-2-2 record in goal.

Dupere leads the Patriot League in goals against average (0.59), is second in save percentage (.838) and third in shutouts (4). He is 18th nationally in GAA and 28th in save percentage, helping Navy rank 15th in the country as a team in goals against average.

Navy, which owns a 6-2-2 overall record and a 1-1-1 Patriot League mark (currently tied for third with four points), moved up one spot from fourth to third in the NSCAA / HendrickCars.com Middle Atlantic regional rankings. Patriot League teams are ranked in the five spots from second to sixth (Colgate 2nd, Navy 3rd, American 4th, Lehigh 5th and Lafayette 6th). Navy's four remaining league games come against American (Oct. 16 in Washington, D.C.), Holy Cross (Oct. 23 in Worcester, Mass.), Colgate (Oct. 30 in Annapolis) and Lafayette (Nov. 6 in Annapolis).

The Mids face American in a key Patriot League battle on Saturday in Washington, D.C., beginning at 1:00 pm. The Eagles, along with Colgate, lead the Patriot League with nine points at 3-0-0.

# GO NAVY #