Metro East Sun

Earning honors from the Missouri Valley Conference is nothing new for Devyn Jambga.

Jambga, a junior on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE) men's soccer team, was an All-MVC second-team selection last season and twice earned the league's Offensive Player of the Week award. Jambga added to that total recently by reaping yet another Offensive Player of the Week honor after two goals and an assist in wins over Ohio State and Drake, according to siuecougars.com.

Those efforts brought his season totals through the team's first six games this season to three goals and two assists for the Cougars.

“I think I'm starting to find form in the last couple weeks, especially after having sort of a slow start,” Jambga told the Metro East Sun.

Jambga got to SIUE from St. Louis by way of Zimbabwe.

The son of former SIUE soccer player Gwinyai Jambga, Devyn was born in St. Louis, according to siuecougars.com. Devyn told the Sun that he began playing soccer in the St. Louis area when he was 4 years old. After playing for a year, he moved to Zimbabwe, where he continued playing.

Jambga later was named the soccer MVP at Harare International School and was a two-time All-Star of the International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa, according to siuecougars.com. In addition, he set the school record in the mile run.

Throughout his time in Zimbabwe, though, SIUE stayed on his radar, as his dad kept up with news from his alma mater. Jambga also had been to the campus a couple of times, and went there for camp in the summer of 2012 during a strong period of play for the Cougars program. When it came time to pick a college to attend, he knew.

“I figured that was my No. 1 choice,” Jambga, whose mother, Stephanie, was an SIUE softball player, said.

In 2014, his freshman season of varsity action, Jambga went scoreless, notching four shots in 15 appearances. However, he exploded in his sophomore season. Jambga led the Cougars with six goals, a total that also ranked fourth in the conference, according to siuecougars.com. Jambga had 11 on-target shots out of the 15 he took on the season. Of his three game-winning goals, one came in overtime against Loyola and clinched the program's first regular-season league crown.

Jambga's penchant for clutch goals has continued this season. Against Ohio State, he scored in the 89th minute to give the Cougars a 3-2 win. He also scored a tying goal in the 18th minute.

Jambga said the game is played differently in each country he has lived in. In the U.S., soccer is played a little more aggressively and has more structure. Jambga also said SIUE's system is quite detail-oriented and requires players to shift to different roles, even in the middle of a game.

“I like how detail-oriented it is because it's forcing me to learn a lot of different positions, understand a lot of positions,” Jambga said.