GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia Tech midfielder Merlin Baus and Notre Dame left back Michael Shipp have been named the ACC Men’s Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week.
A native of Bochum, Germany, Baus led the Hokie offense in road victories at Cincinnati on Thursdayand at No. 10 Xavier (3-1) on Sunday. Against the Bearcats, the midfielder tallied one goal and two assists as Virginia Tech rolled to a 5-1 victory. Three days later against the ranked Musketeers, he assisted the tying goal as he found Ricardo John who then beat the keeper to make it 1-1. He was able to find the back of the net in 86th minute to make it 3-1 and put the game away on a shot from just outside of the box.
Against Cincinnati, Baus whipped in a corner kick that was finished by senior Daniel Lauretano into the right corner just 1:33 into the game. It would be 3-1 before the halftime break as Baus lined up to convert a penalty kick in the 29th minute. After the break, the Hokies got another goal off a Baus corner this time with Dylan Huber getting on the end of it to make it 4-1.
As a freshman last season, Baus tallied three goals to go along with two assists in 16 games played. Baus finished with eight points total on the season but he has only needed two games to reach seven points after his performance this past week.
It was the second award Baus received for his performances as he was also named the Virginia Tech Athlete of the Week.
Shipp, a Notre Dame defender, helped his team to two wins at the 2015 Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament over No. 24 South Florida and UAB. He scored his first career goal in the 20th minute during the 4-0 Notre Dame win against UAB.
Virginia Tech opens ACC play as they host No. 3 North Carolina at 7 p.m. on Friday night at Thompson Field.
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