NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Diego Pacheco is the Red River Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week in men's soccer for Sept. 29-Oct. 5.
        The RRAC announced Tuesday the award, Pacheco's second this season and the second of his XULA career.
        Pacheco, a 5-foot-9 defender and a sophomore from Salvador, Brazil, led a defense that produced shutout victories on the road against RRAC opponents Texas A&M-San Antonio and Our Lady of the Lake. The Gold Rush allowed a total of three shots on goal, none Saturday at OLLU. Pacheco scored the team's first goal at OLLU.
        "Diego covered a lot of ground, dominated the air and played strongly on defense and offense," XULA head coach Lucas Cordeiro said.
        XULA is 6-1-1 overall, 3-0 in conference and ranked 20th in the NAIA. Upcoming doubleheaders:
        •  Thursday at home (Lafreniere Park) vs. Texas A&M-Texarkana — women 1 p.m., men 3:30 p.m.
        •  Saturday at home (Country Day's Freedom Field) vs. Jarvis Christian — women 1 p.m., men 3:30 p.m.
        •  Oct. 16 at A&M-Victoria (Victoria, Texas) — women 1 p.m., men 3:30 p.m.
        •  Oct. 18 at North American (Stafford, Texas) — women 1 p.m., men 3:30 p.m.

Photo of Diego Pacheco by Yamlak Tsega