DENVER – Seattle U’s Stephanie Verdoia and Utah Valley’s Lauren Sack have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Sept. 16-22.
Verdoia, a junior forward from Salt Lake City, Utah (Brighton HS), scored one goal and tallied three assists for five points to help Seattle U to a 2-0 record last week. Verdoia recorded two assists in a 3-1 win over Grand Canyon. She scored the game-winning goal in a 4-0 win over Cal Poly. She also recorded an assist in the win over the Mustangs.
Sack, a senior goalkeeper from Reno, Nevada (McQueen HS), recorded her first shutouts of the season in Utah Valley’s two victories over Bakersfield. Sack tallied six saves without allowing a goal in a 2-0 win over Bakersfield on Friday at home. She then registered five saves in another 2-0 win at Bakersfield on Sunday. She recorded 11 saves on the weekend and went 180 minutes without allowing a goal. Sack has not allowed a goal in her last 221 minutes of action and now has 9.2 shutouts and 27 wins in her career.
Other offensive nominees included: Idaho junior midfielder Katie Baran … Grand Canyon freshman forward Taylor Layton … Kansas City senior forward Taylor Bare … New Mexico State junior midfielder Katie Smith … Utah Valley sophomore forward Kali Stubbs.
Other defensive nominees included: Grand Canyon freshman defender Jessica Valadez … Kansas City sophomore goalkeeper Nina Tzianos … New Mexico State sophomore defender Mikaela Haley … Seattle U senior midfielder Julia Besagno.