DENVER – Idaho’s Chelsea Small and Hawai‘i’s Kanani Taaca have been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Oct. 4-10
Small, a sophomore forward from Solana Beach, Calif. (Torrey Pines), was responsible for five goals in leading Idaho to a 2-0 record against Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State. Small scored both goals and tallied six shots on goal in Idaho’s 2-0 win against LA Tech. She then assisted Idaho’s first and fourth goals, and scored the team’s game-winning second goal in a 4-1 come-from-behind win over NM State. Small’s score against New Mexico State broke Idaho’s single-season school record (12), while her four points in the match put her at 28 for the year, which is also a school record. Small scored the game-winning goals in each match, extending her streak to four consecutive contests with a winning goal. Small now has school-record seven game-winning goals this season which leads the WAC. Small’s game-winner against NM State also gave Idaho its school-record 12th win of the season.
Taaca, a sophomore goalkeeper from Wai`anae, O`ahu (Kamehameha Schools- Kapalama), posted her third shutout of the season in a 1-0 victory at Fresno State. The win over the Bulldogs snapped a nine-match winless streak for Hawai‘i and gave UH its first WAC win of the season. Taaca also helped preserve a 1-1 tie at San Jose State with seven saves while playing all 110 minutes. On the week, Taaca posted one shutout, nine saves and one win.
Other offensive nominees included: Boise State senior forward Shannon Saxton … Louisiana Tech junior forward Rachel King … San Jose State senior forward Katie Knopp … Utah State senior forward Lauren Hansen.
Other defensive nominees included: Boise State junior goalkeeper Liz Ruiz … Fresno State senior goalkeeper Chrissy Smith … Idaho sophomore defender Lauren Layton … San Jose State junior goalkeeper Meghan Maiwald … Utah State sophomore defender Natalie Norris.