BILLINGS, Mont. – After piloting the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team to four points in the final two home matches of his career, fifth-year senior captain Luca Battistotti was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week announced by the conference office on Monday.
 
Battistotti anchored a Yellowjacket back line that earned a 1-1, double-overtime draw against Western Washington University, before shutting out Simon Fraser University 3-0 in the team's most lopsided conference defeat since the 2013 season. "What an honor to get awarded defensive player of the week for his last two home games of his career, and it is a well-deserved award," said MSUB head coach Thomas Chameraud. "Luca has been a rock for us in the back the entire season, and last week was no different. It was really difficult to get past him. We didn't concede a goal in play in the last three games and Luca, our captain was a big part of that."
 
Although the Yellowjackets took the lead just 12 minutes into the match against the Vikings, the atmosphere of the match turned ominous when a red card was shown in the 28th minute to the hosts. The prospect of playing the rest of the match a man down didn't rattle Battistotti or the back line, as they buckled down and prevented the second-leading offense in the conference from taking advantage. The Vikings managed to equalize late, but Battistotti's full 110-minute effort helped MSUB earn a hard-fought point with the draw.
 
The San Rocco al Porto, Italy native was honored in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, in advance of his final home match in an MSUB uniform. After the recognition, he was brilliant again on the back line in the program's second-ever win over Simon Fraser. It was only the third time MSUB has ever held the perennial power without a goal, with the others being 0-0 double-overtime draws.
 
Battistotti was fearless defensively throughout the two matches, winning numerous challenges in the defensive third, organizing a back line that drew its opponents offside 10 times, and even producing a pair of header shot attempts that narrowly missed finding the back of the net.
 
This marks the first-ever GNAC Player of the Week award for Battistotti, who is the longest-tenured Yellowjacket with his career beginning in the fall of 2017. The three-time all-conference selection has played in 71 matches in his MSUB career, which is tied for third-most in school history.
 
This is the second GNAC Player of the Week award for the men's soccer team, after Halil Yilmaz claimed the honor on Sept. 7, 2021 after opening the season with a hat trick.
 
The Yellowjackets (4-7-3, 2-4-2 GNAC) finish their 2021 season on the road this week with two final conference contests. MSUB plays at Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at 6 p.m., before facing Saint Martin's University on Saturday at 1 p.m. Live coverage for this weekend's matches can be found online here.