Bartlo, Lerma Escobar Garner ECC Weekly Honors

10/3/2022 3:35:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen University men's soccer players Derek Bartlo (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Marcos Lerma Escobar (Zaragoza, Spain) have been honored by the East Coast Conference for their play last week. Bartlo was selected the ECC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, while Lerma Escobar was named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week for the second-straight week. The announcement of award winners was made via the league's weekly sport report which was released this afternoon.

A Daemen player has now collected one of the weekly major awards in four of a possible six weeks this season. Bartlo becomes the first Daemen player to be selected ECC Offensive Player of the Week this season, while Lerma Escobar and fellow goalkeeper Harry Firth (Reading, England) have both been named the league's Defensive Player of the Week. In addition, freshman forward Riccardo Boscolo Bachetto (Chioggia, Italy) was named ECC Rookie of the Week after scoring two goals, including the game-winner, in a season-opening win over Saint Michael's College.

Bartlo becomes the first Daemen men's soccer player to be named ECC Offensive Player of the Week since the Wildcats joined the league in 2013. It also marks the first time since Daemen joined the ECC that the Wildcats have garnered two major weekly awards in the same week.

Bartlo, a senior defender, played a role in all three of Daemen's goals last week. He assisted on Daemen's only goal in a 1-1 draw with rival Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday, and totaled a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win over St. Thomas Aquinas this past weekend. He has started all nine games this year and has played 788 of a possible 810 minutes. He is tied for the team lead in goals scored (3) and leads the team in assists (3) and points (9). He has also been key part a defensive unit that ranks first among ECC teams in fewest goals allowed (9) this season.

Bartlo has played in all 47 games over the past four years (43 starts) and has totaled seven career goals and 19 career points.

Lerma Escobar stopped 16 of 17 shots on goal during a 1-0-1 week. He made eight saves in the 1-1 draw with Roberts Wesleyan and turned away all eight shots on goal against STAC en route to his second shutout of the year. He has started eight of Daemen's nine games and is averaging 4.7 saves per game. He ranks second among the ECC leaders in fewest goals allowed (8) and leads the league in goals against average (1.00) and save percentage (.843). As a team, Daemen has limited eight of its first nine opponents to one goal or less.

A graduate student, Lerma Escobar transferred to Daemen from Medaille prior to the 2020 season. He has started 26 of a possible 30 games over the past three years and owns a career goals against average of 1.56 with four career shutouts.

Daemen stands at 4-3-2 overall and 1-2-1 in the ECC. The Wildcats will face two regionally-ranked opponents on the road this week. They travel to Gannon for a non-league game Wednesday night and cap the week with an ECC match at league-leading Molloy Saturday.

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Follow the Daemen University men's soccer program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @DaemenMSOC.

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