He was injured in Bozeman in 2014, had a triumphant return in 2016 and then set some school history there in 2018.
 
Sixth-year senior kicker Roldan Alcobendas broke the school record for career kick scoring against Montana State on Sept. 29 and received his second career ROOT Sports Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player award on Monday (Oct. 1) as a result.
 
He suffered a knee injury in 2014 at Bobcat Stadium, then returned two years later and won his first Big Sky POW honor in 2016 after a performance in Bozeman. He scored 11 points in 2016 and had 10 more in this year's 34-17 road victory which improved fifth-ranked EWU to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky.
 
"Getting the record and player of the week is an ice cream sundae with a cherry on top," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "We congratulate him, and it's all earned. He prepared for this and right now he's playing all-world."
 
In his 34-game career, Alcobendas has scored 244 points to move past Troy Griggs (231 from 1998-01) and Mike Jarrett (236 from 2008-11) for the all-time EWU lead. Alcobendas has also established EWU career records for extra points made (169) and attempted (175), breaking the previous records held by Jarrett (2009-11) with 143 makes and 150 attempts. Alcobendas has made 25-of-36 field goals in his career to rank sixth in school history for field goals made and seventh in attempts. In his career, he has 107 kickoffs for a 57.4 average (6,143 total yards) with 17 touchbacks.
 
He converted field goals of 24 and 25 yards versus the Bobcats to remain perfect on the season at 5-for-5. He also converted four extra points, and punted four times for a 46.8 average with a long of 60. Three of his punts were downed inside the MSU 20-yard line, including a key 59-yarder in the fourth quarter. In all, the average field position for MSU after his punts was the 14-yard line.
 
"It was a proud, proud moment to watch him put the ball through the pipes and get the record," Best said of his 24-yarder that gave EWU a 17-10 second-quarter lead versus the Bobcats. "We didn't mention it before or during the game, but after the game we talked about that. What an accomplishment for him after everything he's overcome in six years here, but it feels like about 10 years."
 
Alcobendas entered the season as one of 34 placekickers nationwide to be named to the watch list for the 2018 Fred Mitchell Award. The recipient of the Fred Mitchell Award will be chosen at the end of the year based on excellence on the football field and in the community.
 
Thus far in 2018, Alcobendas is 5-of-5 kicking field goals (one of 13 players in FCS to be perfect on the season) and has converted on 28-of-29 extra points (one was blocked) to currently have 43 points on the season. He made a 47-yard field goal versus Central Washington and then had a 40-yarder at Northern Arizona. He made a 37-yarder against Washington State, but later had a 44-yarder wiped out because of a holding penalty and the Eagles punted instead.
 
He is also EWU's punter this season, and has averaged 43.6 yards on 14 punts thus far. "And now, on the punting side of things, he's done a phenomenal job at this point – even exceeding our expectations which is always good," said Best. "He had a monster punt late in the game at MSU that pushed them back inside their 20."
 
 As a bonus for his past suffering, the 2013 graduate of Camas (Wash.) High School received a sixth year to complete four years of eligibility because of injuries that cost him a pair of seasons. Alcobendas had to sit out both the 2013 and 2015 seasons because of knee injuries – one suffered while playing in his senior year of soccer.
 
"What he's accomplished here isn't just the points, it's the adversity he's faced and overcome," said Best. "He came here to Eastern with an injury in soccer and that set him back a little bit, then he had the injury at Montana State in 2014 that set him back a little more. He's battled through everything and has earned everything."
 
He finished the 2016 season 9-of-15 kicking field goals and made 73-of-74 extra points. He made his last 63 extra points in a row in 2016 to shatter the previous season record of 47. His 73 total extra points made in 2016 were one behind the Big Sky Conference record of 74 set by former Eagle Kevin Miller in 2013. He also averaged 54.6 yards on 44 kickoffs with seven touchbacks.
 
He missed his first extra point attempt of the game against UC Davis on Oct. 7, 2017, ending his school-record string of consecutive career extra points made at 85. In the 2017 season, he made 46-of-47 extra point attempts and 10-of-14 field goals. He also handled kickoff duties much of the season, and averaged 59.8 yards on 39 kicks in 2017 with seven touchbacks.
 
Returning to the venue he suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2014, Alcobendas made field goals of 48 and 31 yards and had a career-high 11 total points in EWU's 41-17 victory over Montana State in 2016 to earn Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors. His 48-yarder was the best of his career, and equals the 23rd-longest in school history. He also had a 31-yarder blocked and made all five of his extra point attempts to account for 11 of EWU's points. In addition, he averaged 64.0 yards in three kickoffs, including one touchback.