Ibarra claims A-R-C Defender of the Week honor

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- After anchoring a backline that recorded a shutout on Saturday, Simpson College men's soccer junior Ricardo Ibarra has been tabbed the American Rivers Conference Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced Monday.

Ibarra played all 90 minutes as the Storm (1-0-0, 1-0-0 A-R-C) opened their fall-to-spring slate with a 2-0 victory over Dubuque (0-1-0, 0-1-0 A-R-C) en route to his first-career conference weekly honor. Since the start of last season, Ibarra has aided a Simpson defense that has recorded 12 shutouts.

The Marshalltown, Iowa native and the rest of the Storm defense allowed the Spartans to take just one shot in the first half. The visitors finished with seven attempts throughout the whole contest. Only three shots were on target in the A-R-C clash to help Simon Van Den Abbeele secure his first shutout in goal.

Ibarra and Simpson return to the pitch tomorrow night to host Buena Vista (0-1-0, 0-1-0 A-R-C). The match will begin at 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest with live video and statistics being provided through SimpsonAthletics.com.