BOONE, N.C. — Freshman goalkeeper Jake Agnew was tabbed the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week for remaining unbeaten so far in his first year of action with two shutouts, the league announced Tuesday.

"I'm very pleased that Jake's hard work has been recognized by the Sun Belt," head coach Jason O'Keefe said. "Jake has come in as a freshman and done exactly what we've asked of him and has put in the kind of work that makes his results on the field unsurprising. Hopefully, he'll take this honor as motivation to continue what he's doing and only improve as the season progresses."

Agnew has been a key component to the recent hot streak for the Mountaineers, being 3-0-2 since his first start against Winthrop on Sept. 20. In his five games, the freshman has made 14 saves and only allowed three goals total, facing 40 shots. Last week, Agnew recorded the first clean sheets of his career in back-to-back games, holding both Presbyterian College and Howard scoreless through 200 total minutes in the net.
Despite just beginning his collegiate career, Agnew already ranks as one of the best goalkeepers in the Sun Belt Conference. Through his seven total games of action, no one in the league has a better goals against average (GAA) by a decent margin – his first-ranked 0.49 GAA being 0.15 lower than the next lowest. His GAA isn't just topping the Sun Belt, however, as it's also good for fifth-best in the country as well.

Agnew is also ranked highly in his save percentage (.850), which is good enough to tie the top of the conference and rank 14th nationally. He also ranks tied second in the conference in shutouts with the two.

The Mountaineers and Agnew will look to extend their unbeaten streak to six games when they travel to face their second Sun Belt opponent in Hartwick at Oneonta, N.Y., on Saturday, Oct. 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.