Two shutouts nab award for Brenner
When a goalie gets a shutout, it doesn’t go unnoticed. When the same goalie posts shutouts in two consecutive games, the performance is pretty hard to ignore.
So, when Dane Brenner was awarded Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, he let his 0.63 GAA and eight saves over 198 minutes of play, speak for itself.
“I’m a little surprised. I think my defense should be on the award with me,” Brenner said.
“(The defense) trusts me, and I trust them, so it works out perfect, because if they can’t trust me, and I can’t trust them, we wouldn’t have those shutouts.”
Coach George Kiefer agreed.
“I believe that there are eleven guys out there, and that they are really doing a good job,” Kiefer said, “but Dane had two shutouts in the conference, and that got him the award.”
As a freshmen, Brenner started 13 games, faced over 200 shots and registered two shutouts. He started his first game for the Bulls when he replaced senior Peter Lechak in a game on September 13th, 2003 against Providence, where he posted his first collegiate shutout.
With Brenner in net, USF has been ranked since the preseason.
“Personally, it doesn’t matter much to me,” Brenner said. “I really don’t look at the standings and where anyone is at because it tends to make our egos a little big. That distracts me out there, so I just like to go out and take one game at a time, not worrying about who we’re playing or who’s on the other side of the field. We try not to worry about ‘We have to win this game and that game.’ We just go out to play.”