By Phil Brunsman/Franklin Athletics.
Former Seymour soccer keeper Elliott Clark is thriving in his senior season at Franklin College.
On Monday, Clark was named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week. It’s the third time in his career that he has earned this accolade.
The reason for it was because of two performances Clark had in the net last week. On Wednesday against Olivet, Clark needed to make just two saves to preserve the clean sheet in a 4-0 Franklin win. On Sunday against Berea, Clark was tested six times and turned each shot attempt away in a 2-0 Grizzlies win, giving him back-to-back shutouts for the first time in his career.
Clark’s eight saves and zero goals allowed last week earned him the award.
So far this season, Clark is 2-3 with a 1.60 goals against average and a .789 save percentage with the latter number ranking second among all HCAC keepers.
Clark graduated from Seymour in 2018, where he was a two-time all-district and two-time all-conference goalkeeper in the HHC for the Owls.
In 2018 at Franklin, he appeared in five matches, starting three times and finishing with 26 saves and a .788 save percentage.
In 2019, Clark made nine appearances and five starts, going 2-6 with one shutout. He was named HCAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 17 after stopping 10 shots in a 2-1 win over Illinois Tech for his first career victory.
Winners of two straight matches, the Grizzlies are back in action tonight when they travel to Ohio to take on Wilmington. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.