DENVER – San Josè State's Rudi Castro has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for Feb. 15-21.
Castro, a senior forward from San Josè (Lincoln HS), keyed the Spartan offensive attack to help lead his club to a season-opening victory last week. He assisted on both of SJSU's two goals in Saturday's 2-1 win at Dixie State while also notching a pair of shots (both on goal).
"This is a well-deserved reward for Rudi," says head coach Simon Tobin. "He has put in a lot of hard work over the past 12 months."
The hometown product's two assists through one match currently leads the WAC. Castro finished the 2019 campaign with 20 points - scoring nine goals while adding two assists in his first season with San Josè State.
This marks the first weekly honor of Castro's career and the first for the Spartans this season. In addition, the offensive player of the week nod is the first for the program since Rory Knibbs received the award for the week of Aug. 31 in 2015.
Castro's two assists in Saturday's victory marked the program's first multi-assist performance since Oct. 4, 2019 (Max Allen - 2 vs. Kansas City).
Castro and company will look to keep things rolling as SJSU hosts Grand Canyon in its home opener on Saturday night.
Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Spartan Soccer Complex.
Other offensive nominees: Dixie State's Idris Alabi opened up the scoring against San José State, scoring the Trailblazers' first-ever Division I goal … Grand Canyon's Maximilian Moeller scored the first Lopes' goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Houston Baptist.