ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Jose Gomez (Roatan, Honduras) was named the Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week and Caleb Pearson (Fort Worth, Texas/L.D. Bell) was named the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team swept the league's weekly awards, announced on Tuesday (Oct. 28). 

Gomez and Pearson helped NIU to victories over Notre Dame and UIC last week as the Huskies improved to 7-3-4 overall, 2-0-3 in conference play as they moved into a three-way tie for first in the league with Drake and Evansville. 

Pearson earned the victory between the sticks in both games. The Fort Worth, Texas, native came on with 34 minutes remaining against the Fighting Irish with the game tied, 1-1. He made two saves and helped the Huskies to a 2-1 win, their first against Notre Dame since 1994. Pearson then started against UIC and made a career-best seven stops as NIU snapped a four-game losing streak against the Flames. 

For the season, Pearson has a 3-0-0 record with a 0.84 goals against average and a .846 save percentage. 

Gomez, who is now on a three-game point streak, opened the week with an assist on Martin Montoya's (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) 64th minute game-winning goal against Notre Dame. The senior midfielder then tallied an assist on Tomasz Slawek's (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) opening goal and scored the game winner against UIC, helping the Huskies move to the top of the table. 

One of just four Huskies to start all 14 matches this season, Gomez has three goals and six assists on the year, with two goals and three assists coming in the last three games. 

Gomez and Pearson are the second and third Huskies to receive weekly conference honors after Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) was honored as MVC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7.

NIU will return to action on Friday, Oct. 31, when the Huskies go on the road for the final time in the regular season as they visit Evansville in a matchup of two of the three teams tied atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings. Kickoff against the Purple Aces is slated for 6 p.m.