David Arnold practically willed the Mount St. Joseph soccer team to the MIAA A Conference soccer championship one year ago and he has not let up in college, as he got his freshman year at the U.S. Naval Academy off to a sensational start this week.
The player his high school teammates and coaches simply called “The Freak,” scored three goals as Navy opened its season with a pair of wins last week and his performance earned the Patriot League’s Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Arnold scored the game winning tally in a victory over Wofford University and came back to score twice in a 5-1 win over VMI. He becomes the first Midshipmen to earn the award since 2007 and only the second freshman.
A 6-foot-2, 179 forward, Arnold had many big goals for St. Joe last fall, but he made his biggest impact in the playoffs when he twice went into the goal, after playing an entire game and two overtimes in the field, to help the Gaels prevail on penalty kicks. The first effort came on the road at Calvert Hall, under the lights, and the second was in the championship game against McDonogh’s high-powered offense.
Arnold and Navy return to action on Saturday when they host UMBC.
