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Men's Soccer WIU Athletic Communications

Whalen and Gochneaur Earn Summer League Honors

Drew Whalen earned Mitre National 'Player of the Week' honors and Austin Gochneaur was named 'Man of the Match'.

MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois men's soccer players Drew Whalen and Austin Gochneaur are making the Leatherneck name known this summer, earning Mitre National 'Player of the Week' and 'Man of the Match' honors, respectively.

Whalen registered a hat trick in his debut for the Madison 56ers of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) on May 24. The Peoria, Illinois native accounted for all of his team's goals in the 3-1 victory over the Minnesota United Reserves, earning Mitre National 'Player of the Week' in the NPSL. Madison is now 1-1-1 overall. Whalen is currently preparing for his junior season with Western Illinois. In 21 career games he has four goals for the Leathernecks.

Gochneaur, playing for the Des Moines Menace of the Premier Development League (PDL), earned 'Man of the Match' honors for his performance against the Springfield Synergy on Saturday, May 30 at Valley Field in West Des Moines, Iowa. The Ankeny, Iowa native played the duration of the match on a defensive line that has yet to surrender a goal this season. Saturday's game ended in a 0-0 draw, moving the Menace to 2-0-1 overall. Gochneaur will be a senior for the Purple and Gold this fall. In three seasons he has five goals and three assists for Western.

Whalen and Gochneaur are two of 23 Leathernecks returning for the 2015 season. In 2014 head coach Dr. Eric Johnson led WIU to The Summit League Tournament championship game where the Purple and Gold fell to Denver, 3-1. Western finished the season 9-7-1 overall and 3-2-1 in a four-way tie for the regular-season Summit League title.
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Players Mentioned

Austin Gochneaur

#4 Austin Gochneaur

F
6' 3"
Junior
Ankeny
Drew Whalen

#7 Drew Whalen

F/MF
6' 1"
Sophomore
Peoria Notre Dame

Players Mentioned

Austin Gochneaur

#4 Austin Gochneaur

6' 3"
Junior
Ankeny
F
Drew Whalen

#7 Drew Whalen

6' 1"
Sophomore
Peoria Notre Dame
F/MF