UHV’s Elsen named RRAC Offensive Player of the Week

UHV's Dario Elsen makes a pass during a non-conference game against Dallas Christian College at The Cage on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Lily Standridge/UHV Athletics)

September 23, 2024

WACO – UHV's Dario Elsen is riding a hot streak at the moment.

The freshman midfielder contributed on each of the Jaguars' five goals, including scoring four of them, last week in a 3-1 win over Texas College on Thursday and a 2-2 draw at Jarvis Christian on Saturday.

For that, the Red River Athletic Conference named Elsen its Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 16-22. He's the second player from the men's soccer team to earn weekly honors, joining junior goalkeeper Tyler Kaeppeli, who was named RRAC Defensive Player of the Week two weeks ago.

"I'm honored to be named RRAC Offensive Player of the Week," Elsen said. "It felt amazing to play well and score some goals this week, but this recognition wouldn't be possible without the support of my teammates. We've been working hard together, and their effort has pushed me to perform my best. I'm grateful to be part of such a great team."

The Weywertz, Belgium, native opened the week with a pair of goals and an assist in the Jaguars' (3-0-2, 1-0-1) conference opener at Texas College. He followed that up by scoring twice in UHV's draw with the Bulldogs.

Elsen has scored five goals in UHV's last three matches and ranks second in the conference in goals scored (5) and third in points (11).

"The coaching staff and team is proud of Dario for his achievement," said head coach Adrian Rigby. "It speaks volumes of the confidence from him and our attacking players right now. He stepped up and performed for us in challenging environments on the road."

The Jaguars return home this week to face No. 25-ranked LSU Shreveport on Thursday, and Texas A&M-Texarkana on Saturday for Youth Soccer Appreciation Weekend – kids 12 and under wearing their youth soccer jerseys get in free on Saturday.

Additional RRAC men's soccer weekly nominees: Nathan Bautista (Houston-Victoria), Seth Brown (A&M-Texarkana), Yahir Chacon (Southwest), Pablo Dominguez de Leon (LSU Alexandria), Nikolay Nikolov (Southwest), Gustavo Oliveira (Xavier), Alejandro Perez (North American), Diego Picano (A&M-Texarkana), Pedro Sao Tiago (Louisiana Christian), Rodrigo Silva (Louisiana Christian), Valeriu Tarlev (LSU Alexandria), Jack Thomas (LSU Shreveport).