AMHERST, N.Y. - Freshman defender/midfielder Sander Johannessen (Skedsmokorset, Norway) of Daemen College has been named the East Coast Conference Men's Soccer Rookie of the Week for games played Oct. 2-8. The official announcement was made via the league's weekly sport report which was released this afternoon from conference headquarters in West Babylon, N.Y.

It marks the second-straight week, and the third time this season, that a Daemen player has been selected for ECC Rookie of the Week honors. Noah Keem (Amherst, N.Y.) collected the honor last week, while Kristian Aadnoy (Gjerdrum, Norway) was selected a month ago. The three weekly accolades this season are the most that Daemen has earned in a season since joining the league in 2013.

Johannessen picked an opportune time to score the first goal of his career, doing so in the final minute of the first overtime period to deliver a 2-1 victory for Daemen over longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan College on Oct. 4. The dramatic game-winner came when fellow freshman Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin (Fjaras, Sweden) sent a pass to Johannessen in the box, and he finished the play with a low shot that went inside the far right post. Johannessen was mobbed by his teammates as the celebration turned into a huge pile in the middle of the RWC Soccer Stadium pitch.

With the win, the Wildcats snapped a 27-game winless drought (0-26-1) in ECC games that dated back to the 2014 season. Daemen's previous ECC victory was a 2-1 (2OT) defeat of Roberts Wesleyan on Oct. 11, 2014.

Daemen closed out the week with a 1-0 loss to Mercy College and entered today's non-league match against Pitt-Johnstown with an overall record of 4-8-0 and an ECC mark of 1-4-0.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen men's soccer team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenMSOC on Twitter.