Fresno State's Laura Dodd and Utah State's Molli Merrill has been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of October 24-30.
Dodd, a senior midfielder from Clovis, Calif. (Clovis East HS), assisted on the game-tying goal and scored the game-winning goal against Nevada in a 2-1 Fresno State win. Her goal helped the Fresno State earn its 10th win of the year and the second seed in the WAC Tournament, securing a first-round bye. She tied a single-game career high of three points and is tied for eighth in points scored during conference play this season.
Merrill, a senior goalkeeper from Bountiful, Utah (Bountiful HS), led the Aggies to their second-straight WAC regular-season title with a win against San Jose State (3-0) and a tie against Fresno State (0-0, 2OT). Merrill did not allow a goal in two matches for a 0.00 goals against average. In the match against San Jose State, she faced five shots and had one save in 90 minutes. Against Fresno State, in a match that determined the WAC regular season champion, she did not allow a goal in 110 minutes of action and had five saves, which was her season high in a WAC match. Merrill made several match-saving saves to keep the match tied at 0-0, as the Bulldogs attempted 19 shots. She has not allowed a goal since the Aggies fell 2-1 in overtime at Hawai'i on Sept. 30. For the season, Merrill and the USU defense have nine shutouts, which is one shy of the USU record of 10 set by the 2003 squad. She dropped her WAC GAA against to 0.28
Other offensive nominees included: Nevada midfielder Ellie Stott scored a goal vs. Fresno State ... New Mexico State midfielder Bree Luhrsen scored the game-winning goal vs. Hawai'i ... San Jose State midfielder Catherine Ruder scored the game-winning goal at Nevada ... Utah State forward Shantel Flanary scored a goal vs. San Jose State.
Other defensive nominees included: Fresno State goalkeeper Katie DeVault shutout Utah State and defeated Nevada ... Hawai'i goaltender Kanani Taaca gave up one goal in 187 minutes of actions ... Nevada goaltender Jenna Riddle ... New Mexico State goaltender Jessica Schutter earned a shutout victory against Hawai'i ... San Jose State goalkeeper Meghan Maiwald earned a clean sheet vs. Nevada.