DENVER – San Jose State’s Kayla Santacruz and Boise State’s Liz Ruiz have been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Oct. 18-24.
Santacruz, a freshman midfielder from San Ramon, Calif. (California HS), led San Jose State to a pair of wins over Nevada and Utah State last week. Santacruz tallied her first collegiate hat trick with three goals and an assist to lead the Spartans to a 4-1 victory against Utah State on Sunday. She also scored a goal on Friday to help SJSU to a 4-0 win over Nevada. Overall on the week, Santacruz tallied five shots on goal, four goals, one assist and nine points.
Ruiz, a junior goalkeeper from Boise, Idaho (Capital HS), anchored the Boise State defense in the Broncos’ 1-0 overtime victory over in-state rival Idaho on Sunday. Ruiz stopped all six Vandal shots on goal, including a shot from distance. Idaho sent a high-arching shot over the defense that dipped towards the goal. Ruiz was forced to stretch high to touch the ball off the crossbar and over the net to preserve the scoreless draw with 18 minutes left in regulation. The save gave Boise State the opportunity to win their lone match of the week in overtime.
Other offensive nominees included: Boise State sophomore forward Ebbie Harris … Idaho sophomore midfielder Megan Lopez.
Other defensive nominees included: Fresno State senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Revel … Idaho junior goalkeeper Liz Boyden … Louisiana Tech freshman goalkeeper Caitlin Updyke ... San Jose State junior goalkeeper Meghan Maiwald.