Spartans Sweep SSC Awards Following Victory Over Top-25 Opponent

ORLANDO, Fla. - The University of Tampa's Tyler Blackwood and David Niepel have been named Sunshine State Conference Men's Soccer Players of the Week presented by VALIC.

A sophomore forward, Blackwood (London, England) picked up the first hat trick of his collegiate career in a 3-0 win over No. 18 Clayton State. Blackwood's first goal came in the 21st minute of action and was quickly followed by his second scoring tally in the 24th minute. He concluded his day by finding the net in the 84th minute.

Niepel, a junior goalkeeper (Bad Breisig, Germany) recorded his first shutout of the season in the No. 10 Spartans' 3-0 win over No. 18 Clayton State. Niepel made six saves to preserve the clean sheet.

For more than half a century, VALIC has served as a leading retirement plan provider for higher education, as well as for K-12 schools and school districts, healthcare, government and other not-for-profit institutions. VALIC has more than $65 billion in total assets under management and manages plans for nearly 25,000 groups serving nearly two million plan participants. VALIC represents The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc., and VALIC Retirement Services Company.