DENVER - San Jose State's Lauren Sanchez and Fresno State's Katie DeVault have been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of September 12-18.
Sanchez, a senior midfielder from San Jose, Calif. (Archbishop Mitty HS), scored the lone goal in the Spartans' victory over Portland State. The goal, which came in the 70th minute, allowed the Spartans to capture their first win of the season. Following a missed shot by teammate Kayla Santacruz, Sanchez was in the right place at the right time to finish. In addition to the game-winner, Sanchez added another shot in the contest, and added two more shots in Friday night's loss to Sacramento State.
DeVault, a freshman goalkeeper from Santa Ana, Calif. (Canyon HS), was instrumental in Fresno State going undefeated last weekend. She made 19 saves in 200 minutes of action, earning a 2-0 victory over Air Force and a 1-1 tie with Colorado College. Against Air Force, DeVault earned her third shutout of the season behind nine saves. Against CC, DeVault made 10 saves, keeping the Tigers off the scoreboard for the final 87 minutes of the match. This is the second time this season that the freshman has earned WAC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Other offensive nominees included: Fresno State forward Jaycee Bingham ... Idaho midfielder Katie Baran ... New Mexico State midfielder Amber Harrington... Nevada defender Madison Lorenzen ... Utah State forward Marissa Sanchez.
Other defensive nominees included: Idaho goalkeeper Caroline Towles ... Louisiana Tech goalkeeper Caitlin Updyke ... New Mexico State goalkeeper Elise Nordin ... Nevada defender Lauren Braman ... San Jose State goalkeeper Meghan Maiwald.