DENVER ? San Jose State midfielder Nicole Irwin and Utah State goalkeeper Ali Griffin have been named the Western Athletic Conference women’s soccer offensive and defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Irwin, a junior from Dublin, Calif. (Dublin), produced a three-goal second-half hat trick to lead San Jose State to a 4-2 win at defending WAC regular-season champion Hawai’i on Sunday, Oct. 22. The 2005 first-team all-WAC and 2006 preseason all-WAC selection then made it a 3-0 match at 65:26, taking a through ball from Jessica Scott and firing left-footed from the left. After back-to-back goals pulled the Rainbow Wahine to within one goal at 3-2, Irwin put the result out of doubt with a 30-yard left-footed blast over UH goalkeeper Kori Lu and into the upper left corner of the net. Irwin earned credit for her team-leading fourth game-winning goal of 2006, which also ties for the WAC lead.
Griffin, a sophomore from South Jordan, Utah (Bingham), made a career-high nine saves in Friday’s win over Nevada. She also had four saves in the Aggies win over Hawai?i on Oct. 16. The sophomore added three saves against Fresno State, posting her second-straight shutout and seventh of the season. Griffin now has 75 saves this season, moving to No. 4 on Utah State’s single-season saves list. She lowered her season GAA to 0.84, closing in on the Aggies’ career GAA mark of 0.81. The wins against the Rainbow Wahine and the Wolf Pack helped secure a spot in the upcoming WAC Tournament for the Aggies.
Other offensive nominees included: Antonea Lugo, Fresno State; Karen Zmirak, Nevada and Dana Peart, Utah State.
Other defensive nominees included: Rochelle Jagdeo, Fresno State; Caitlin Holmes, Nevada and Kristin Krale, San Jose.