PORTLAND, Ore. – Following an impressive week for the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team, including a pair of road victories highlighted by an upset of #10 ranked Western Oregon University, the Yellowjackets would sweep the GNAC Men's Soccer Player of the Week honors, with So Nagano earning Offensive Player of the Week, and Kolja Thomas earning Defensive Player of the Week.
 
The dual honors mark the first time since 2019 that MSUB men's soccer players have been awarded both Player of the Week awards at the same time. Nagano earned his first career Player of the Week award while at MSUB, while the honor is Thomas's second career GNAC Player of the Week award.
 
A junior forward in his first season with MSUB, Nagano played a crucial role in both of MSUB's victories, scoring a goal in both matches last week. Nagano scored the game's first goal in the 21^st minute of the Yellowjacket's 4-0 romp of Saint Martin's, receiving a ball from a free-kick in defense before putting a one-touch chip from outside the box over the keeper and into the back of the net. He would then score the game-tying goal in what would become a 2-1 upset over GNAC leaders and ranked Western Oregon, putting a shot home after receiving a cross into the box. Nagano attempted a total of seven shots on the week, putting six of his attempts on goal. He pushed his goal tally on the season to seven, second most in the conference, while scoring five since the start of GNAC play, tied for the most of any GNAC player.
 
"So played a crucial part for us this weekend, finding himself in goal-scoring positions in both games and finding the back of the net twice," said head coach Paul Cuevas. "His work ethic on and off the ball continues to impress us and definitely stood out Saturday afternoon in Oregon. He continues to grow and embrace his role on this team, and we hope he continues to perform going forward."
 
Thomas, a junior in his third season with MSUB, has quickly made an impact since returning to the Yellowjackets lineup following a preseason injury. The German national was one of the Yellowjackets defensive anchors, helping MSUB keep it's sixth shutout of the season in the team's 4-0 victory over Saint Martin's. Thomas would once again contribute in a big way defensively Saturday against Western Oregon, playing the full 90 minutes for the first time this season and helping limit one of the GNAC's best offenses to just five shots on goal. But his most important contribution came on the offensive end, when he would score a 74^th minute game-winning goal to push the Yellowjackets to the victory, and collect his second goal of the season.
 
"Kolja was defensively solid this weekend, helping our team secure a clean sheet Thursday," Cuevas said. "He's known for being a game-changer and he did just that on Saturday, stepping up when the team needed him most. We hope we continue to see this positive progression he has had throughout the season."
 
The Yellowjackets (5-4-4, 4-2-1 GNAC), currently sit tied for second place in the GNAC Standings with 13 points, and have already collected the team's most points in the conference standings since the 2019 season. The 'Jackets return home for a single match this week against Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday, November 2 at Yellowjacket Field, with kickoff at 2 PM. Live coverage of all MSUB men's soccer games can be found online here.