OKLAHOMA CITY - The big week for Liam Ward and the Mid-America Christian University men's soccer team was recognized in a big way on Monday by both the Sooner Athleic Conference and the National Christian College Athletic Association.

Ward was named the men's soccer Defensive Player of the Week for the SAC and the division I defensive Student-Athlete of the Week for the NCCAA. Ward helped the Evangels to a 2-0 week with a pair of shutouts, and the sophomore goalkeeper helped MACU snap a seven-match skid against Wayland Baptist University on Saturday afternoon.

On Tuesday afternoon, the NAIA National Office also recognized Ward's effort as the National Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week.

Ward - a 6-3 goalkeeper from Aldershot, England - blanked john Brown University on Tuesday as the Evangels won 3-0, and Ward made both of his saves in that match with the Evangels holding onto a 1-0 lead. He followed that up with a six-save performance against the NAIA #4 Pioneers on Saturday, with five of those six saves coming with MACU leading 1-0 and three of those stops coming in the second half. Ward is the only goalkeeper in the SAC with two clean sheets in conference play, and he has a shutout streak of 239:56.