DENVER--Louisiana Tech’s Rachel King and Idaho’s Liz Boyden have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Aug. 31-Sept. 6.
King, a sophomore from O’Fallon, Mo. (Ft. Zumwalt West HS), registered seven goals, one assist and back-to-back hat tricks to help Louisiana Tech to three wins over Prairie View A&M, Nicholls State and Southern last week. In LA Tech’s 7-1 victory over Prairie View A&M, King became just the fourth player in Tech soccer history to record a hat trick. She followed up the performance with another three-goal effort in LA Tech’s 4-0 win over Nicholls State. King wrapped up the week with a goal and an assist in the 6-0 victory over Southern. King becomes the only player in Louisiana Tech history to record back-to-back hat tricks in consecutive games.
Boyden, a sophomore from Spokane, Wash. (Ferris HS), went 2-0 in goal over the weekend to help Idaho to its first outright Governor’s Cup title in 11 years. The sophomore won back-to-back matches for the first time in her career and posted her third career shutout. Boyden stopped three shots in each match and currently holds a scoreless minutes streak of 164:56.
Other offensive nominees included: Boise State junior forward Shannon Saxton; Hawai‘i senior forward Ambree Ako; Idaho senior defender Sari Morrison; New Mexico State junior defender Nina Yanes; and Utah State junior midfielder Stefani Shiozaki.
Other defensive nominees included: Boise State senior goalkeeper Jen Burns; Hawai‘i junior midfielder Mari Punzal; Louisiana Tech sophomore goalkeeper Cat Buchanan; and New Mexico State freshman midfielder Kelly Heiman.