IRVINE, Calif. — Owen Beninga's excellent outing for the UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team in their Blue-Green Rivalry match against Cal Poly on Saturday earned him not only Big West Freshman of the Week honors, but Defensive Player of the Week honors as well, the conference announced on Monday. He is the first Big West soccer player to collect two conference awards in the same week since last October.
 
 The 6-foot-4 freshman goalkeeper was instrumental in the Gauchos' shutout of their arch rivals, making five saves and giving Santa Barbara air superiority in their penalty area, using his height to claim crosses all afternoon long. After the match, UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg said Beninga's performance made "the whole difference in the game." Beninga's performance was made even more impressive by the weight of the occasion, the rookie was making just his second collegiate start in what is hailed as the greatest rivalry in college soccer, in front of 7,500 raucous fans at Harder Stadium.
 
It was a second shutout in as many starts for the New England Revolution Academy graduate, who the Gauchos expect to be their netminder of the future. His first came on Sept. 18 at UNLV, a performance highlighted by a soaring save from a free kick. While his performance on Saturday lacked such a signature highlight, it was quite complete. On top of his five saves, he faced deliveries into the penalty area from eight corner kicks and a handful of free kicks, plus more from open play. Using his impressive physical stature, he made sure none of those deliveries caused Santa Barbara any harm. He is now one of five Big West goalies with multiple shutouts on his ledger.