Sept. 3, 2002
Old Dominion men's soccer player Bamidele Oluwalana (Oslo, Norway) was named the Colonial Athletic Association's (CAA) Rookie of the Week for the first week of the season, Aug. 26-Sept. 1.
The freshman midfielder was awarded the honor after his heroics in the season opener against state rival Va. Tech. Sophomore Kevon Harris (Kingston, Jamaica), who tallied two assists, offered a long cross field pass to Oluwalana who secured it and scored the golden goal, the first of his career, only 18 seconds into overtime.
The Monarchs (1-0/0-0), who improved their record over the Hokies to 5-1-3, are ninth in the NSCAA/adidas regional rankings. CAA foes Virginia Commonwealth and James Madison are also in the rankings, at #4 and #6 respectively. VCU's Carlos Garay was named the Player of the Week after leading his team to two shutout victories in the Nike/Alltel Soccer Classic.
Old Dominion will next play host to nationally ranked Wake Forest this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the ODU Soccer Field. The Monarchs have secured only one victory in six chances with the Deacons. They are currently ranked #24 with a 1-0-1 record after playing St. Louis to a tie and defeating Akron 2-1.