Vivanco, Mellors-Blair earn CAA Weekly Honors

ATLANTA—Georgia State men’s soccer forwards Alex Vivanco and William Mellors-Blair earned CAA Player and Rookie of the Week honors respectively after leading the Panthers to two wins last weekend in Jacksonville, Fla.

GSU won 1-0 at Jacksonville last Friday and 3-1 at North Florida on Sunday afternoon to win the Mike Gibbs Memorial Tournament. Vivanco, named the MVP of the tournament following Sunday’s match, scored two goals vs. North Florida and added an assist on the game-winning goal against Jacksonville. The two-goal match was the first of the senior forward’s career. His assist against Jacksonville helped classmate Gimel Gordon net the game-winning tally.

Mellors-Blair, a freshman from Nottingham, England, delivered assists on both game-winning goals in the two victories. He keyed Gordon’s game winner against Jacksonville with a cross from the right side that Vivanco headed on net. The header forced the goalkeeper to make a desperation save and leave a rebound that Gordon fired into the net from point-blank range. Mellors-Blair then added an assist on redshirt junior Caleb Kernan’s game winner against North Florida, this time from the left side. Mellors-Blair sent in a cross that a diving Kernan headed just inside the left post.

Mellors-Blair took home All-Tournament team honors, joining Vivanco, Gordon and senior defender Peter Vania (Defensive MVP) on the squad. Georgia State’s 2-0 start is its first since 2003.

The Panthers host their first regular-season home match of the 2012 season on Saturday against Evansville at 7 p.m. Admission to all Georgia State matches at the GSU Soccer Complex is free for all fans. Visit the men’s soccer page on www.GeorgiaStateSports.com for a preview of the match later this week.

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