DENVER - Grand Canyon's Niki Jackson and Utah Valley's Mitch Jensen have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Oct. 3 - 9.
Jackson, a junior forward from Phoenix (Cactus Shadows HS), recorded his second hat trick of the season on Thursday, scoring all three of the Lopes' goals in a 3-2 win at Houston Baptist. All three of his goals gave GCU a lead as the WAC-leader in points and goals scored in the 16th, 36th and 87th minutes. He also leads the conference in shots, averaging 4.36 per game.
Jensen, a junior goalkeeper from Kaysville, Utah (Davis HS/Western Wyoming CC), made his first two career starts for UVU and recorded shutouts in both to help the Wolverines pick up a pair of WAC wins. On Thursday, he made one save to preserve a 3-0 victory over CSU Bakersfield. On Saturday, he made two saves as the Wolverines managed a second-half goal to hold off UT Rio Grande Valley, 1-0.
Other offensive nominees: Air Force's Tucker Bone scored the game-winning goal in Saturday's win at Grand Canyon to keep the Falcons undefeated in WAC play … Seattle U's David Olsen scored a goal and assisted on another in Thursday's 2-1 win at San José State … UT Rio Grande Valley's Ilias Kosmidis scored his first-career goal in Thursday's 2-1 win over UNLV … Utah Valley's Karson Payton scored the game-winner in Saturday's 1-0 win over UTRGV and also assisted on a score in Thursday's 3-0 win over CSU Bakersfield.
Other defensive nominees: Air Force's Cameron Duley locked down the GCU offense on Saturday to help the Falcons earn the 1-0 win in Phoenix … CSU Bakersfield's Nicolas Clever tied a career-high with nine saves in Saturday's win over San José State … Grand Canyon's Hector Montalvo played all 180 minutes and held opponents to just eight shots on goal in two matches … Seattle U's Sam Langston was integral in the Redhawks' sixth shutout of the season on Saturday against Houston Baptist … UT Rio Grande Valley's Esa Aalto made seven total saves as the Vaqueros went 1-1 on the week.