ST. LOUIS -- Western Michigan men's soccer defender Christian Shannon has earned his first career weekly honor from the Missouri Valley Conference on Tuesday.

After scoring a game-winning goal for the Broncos and contributing to a conference shutout, Shannon was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week by MVC office staff. The redshirt sophomore was one of the main offensive contributors for WMU in two home matches against Detroit Mercy and NIU last week. 

Shannon was the Brown and Gold's late-match hero on Wednesday, Oct. 8 in a 2-1 win over Detroit Mercy to end non-conference play. In the 86th minute, Shannon headed the ball into the bottom left corner of the net after a corner kick service from defender Emil Nieuwhof to give Western Michigan the win. It was Shannon's first goal of the season after having three scores in 2024.

In a 0-0 shutout of Northern Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 11 Shannon helped the Broncos defense limit the Huskies to only five shots on goal through 90 minutes. He also had another chance for a late game-winner in the 75th minute for WMU. A free kick from senior forward Jonathan Stout on the near side of the 18 came straight to Shannon just inside the penalty area. Shannon was quick to get a foot on the ball, but NIU's goalkeeper made a jumping save to the right to keep it a 0-0 draw.

This is Shannon's first weekly award from the MVC. The Brown and Gold's last weekly honor came in the second-to-last week of the 2024 season when midfielder Carson Hodgson was named the Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 29, 2024. Western Michigan returns to action this weekend on the road at the Bradley Braves on Saturday, Oct. 18.