As the season kicks into gear Monmouth University men’s soccer forward Ben Zakowski has been the topic of many conversations recently. Along with his teammates, Zakowski took the field by storm on the Monday, Aug. 28th game versus Long Island University (LIU).
Ben Zakowski scored two goals in the second half with one assist leading the Monmouth University men’s soccer team to a 3-1 victory. At just the 63rd minute mark, Zakowski’s first goal of the night was fired into the goal. Building momentum and spirit in the team, about four minutes later, he scored his second goal through a penalty kick. In the 73rd minute, Monmouth added another goal when Zakowski passed the ball to player number nine, Kevin Zapata, who scored the last and final goal for Monmouth University.
This was the first multi-goal game of the year and third overall in Zakowski’s career. As a senior, in 2022, number seven (previously wore 21), Ben Zakowski collected quite the accomplishments throughout the season. He started in all 15 matches, leading the team with 16 points split between seven goals and two assists. Zakowski was also credited with the game-winning goal vs. St. John’s (8/25/22), Stony Brook (9/30/22), and Hartford (10/25/22). These outstanding performances led to him being ranked among the top 10 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) for not only his goals, but also the game-winning goals, and shots.
Collecting multiple outstanding achievements throughout his career, Zakowski has skyrocketed as both an athlete and student. Accumulating many accolades such as the 2022 United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Region or the 2022 Second Team All-CAA and even the 2021 MAAC All-Academic Team, Ben Zakowski is definitely a player to watch out for on the field.
In the week of September 4th, 2023, Ben Zakowski was named the CAA Co-Offensive Player of the Week (an award given by the CAA as an acknowledgment of a player who did an outstanding performance on the field). The LIU game (8/28/23), played a huge factor in this award. It was Zakowski’s third match of his career in which multiple goals were scored. It was also the sixth time in his overall career that he has been credited with a game-winning goal. From his skills on the field and collection of honorables, he is expected to not only excel but also soar on the field.
Zakowski does not solely credit himself for success; rather, he shares it with the team. Zakowki explained, “The individual awards are great but without my teammates, I would not be able to achieve what I have already. The team is looking strong this year and the goal is to focus on each game at hand. The bar is set high because we have now settled into the new conference. I am mainly focused on the success of our team as a whole and I will do my best individually to help the team reach our overall goals.”
The Monmouth University men’s soccer team and Zakowski ran back into action on Saturday, Sept. 9’s game against Elon University where with the help of his teammates, Zakowski scored in the 89th minute making it a 1-1 tie. They will travel back home where on September 12th, 2023 they will go against LeMoyne. Tune in to see Zakowski in action and support the Hawks as they play on home grass.
