University of Memphis Athletics
Tigers’ Luke Kelly named AAC Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Feb 24, 2021 | Men's Soccer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis sophomore midfielder/forward Luke Kelly has been named American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week while junior goalkeeper Parker Lackland and sophomore midfielder Ford Hunt both received weekly honor roll accolades, the AAC announced Wednesday.
Kelly, a McMurray, Pa., native, scored in the 109th minute with a 12-yard contested strike just inside the left post to give Memphis men's soccer a dramatic 2-1 double-overtime win at Temple on Tuesday at the Temple Sports Complex.
"It was a free kick that bounced around and fell to Caden, who clipped it back in, and I was happy to get a foot on it and put it in the net," said Kelly.
The Duquesne transfer notched his first collegiate goal just past diving Temple keeper, Nikolas Hartmann, on an assist from Tiger freshman midfielder Caden Wells.
Lackland, who was credited with five saves, made an incredible one-on-one stop from a shot inside the box with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. The Dallas, Texas, native made a huge diving save in the 67th minute to keep the Owls scoreless at the time.
"Ntezey (Swalita) and I got caught in an awkward situation, but Ntezey had good positioning on the player, and it allowed me to make the save on the near post," said Lackland.
Hunt, a Johannesburg, South Africa, native, played the entire Temple double overtime game with 109 minutes.
The Tigers (1-1) are in sole possession of third in the AAC behind 2-0 SMU and 1-0 Tulsa and ahead of No. 14 UCF, Temple and USF, all at 1-2.
Memphis returns to action this Saturday in a rematch with No. 8 SMU in Dallas at 7 p.m.
For more information on the Memphis men's soccer team, follow the Tigers on Facebook (/MemphisSoccer), Twitter (@MemphisMSoccer) and Instagram (@MemphisMSoccer).
