Old Dominion fourth-year striker Lewis Rourke and Georgia State fifth-year defender Sandro Rabarivony have earned Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Player of the Week honors for the third week of the 2026 season, according to the Sun Belt Conference.
Lewis Rourke Secures Offensive Honors for Old Dominion
Old Dominion forward Lewis Rourke claimed the Offensive Player of the Week award after compiling six points across a pair of non-conference home wins. Rourke, a Nottingham, England native and a 2026 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team honoree, recorded two goals and two assists during the stretch, according to the Sun Belt Conference.
Rourke opened his week on September 2 with a four-point performance in a 7-1 rout of Radford. He followed that effort on September 6 by scoring another goal in a 3-0 shutout against Bucknell. His contributions mark a milestone for the Monarchs, making him the first Old Dominion player to capture the conference’s weekly offensive accolade since Otu Bisong earned the recognition on October 14, 2025, as reported by the Sun Belt Conference.
Sandro Rabarivony Leads Georgia State’s Defensive Sweep
Georgia State fifth-year defender Sandro Rabarivony secured Defensive Player of the Week honors following a vital two-way performance that kept the Panthers undefeated in 2026, according to the Sun Belt Conference. Rabarivony, hailing from Saint-Pierre, Réunion Island, anchored a Georgia State back line that secured a 3-0 shutout win over Presbyterian on September 6.
Rabarivony’s impact was particularly pronounced during a win against Lipscomb on September 2. He played 70 minutes in the match, recorded an assist on the Panthers’ opening goal, and scored twice within a crucial five-minute span in the second half, according to the Sun Belt Conference. His first goal in the 76th minute tied the score at 2-2, and his second strike in the 81st minute pushed Georgia State ahead to 4-2. He is the first Panthers player to win the defensive weekly honor since Gunther Rankenburg on October 7, 2020, as noted by the Sun Belt Conference.
2026 Sun Belt Weekly Award Recipients
The conference weekly honors have recognized distinct standouts during the opening month of the 2026 campaign. The complete list of weekly award winners thus far includes:
- Week 1: Loïc Sany Kong (Forward, South Carolina) – Offensive; Will Devine (Goalkeeper, Coastal Carolina) – Defensive, according to the Sun Belt Conference.
- Week 2: Alejandro Velasquez-Lopez (Midfielder, South Carolina) – Offensive; Takahiro Fujita (Defender, UCF) – Defensive, according to the Sun Belt Conference.
- Week 3: Lewis Rourke (Forward, Old Dominion) – Offensive; Sandro Rabarivony (Defender, Georgia State) – Defensive, according to the Sun Belt Conference.
Worth a look