DENVER -UT Rio Grande Valley's Andreya Barrera and Utah Valley's Brooklyn Nielsen have been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Aug. 22-28.
Barrera, a junior from El Paso, Texas (Andress High School), scored the game-winning goal in each match as the Vaqueros went 2-0 on the weekend. Barrera did her damage early in both matches, scoring against Lamar in the 19th minute and against Prairie View A&M in the 20th minute. She set a UTRGV program record with eight attempted shots against PVAM, three of which were on target, pacing a Vaqueros' offense which fired 38 shots in the match. Barrera now has two game-winning goals for the third season in a row.
Nielsen, a freshman from Sandy, Utah (Jordan HS), didn't allow a goal in two appearances on the weekend, including a 1-0 shutout victory on the road against Oklahoma. Nielsen made her first career start in the victory in Norman, facing 12 Sooner shots and making a pair of late saves to secure the win. UVU snapped OU's 11-match home unbeaten streak with the victory. She also subbed in for the second half, and made two saves, as the Wolverines held Southern Utah scoreless in a 2-0 win on Aug. 26.
Other offensive nominees included: Chicago State sophomore midfielder Alejandra Alonso had two assists as Chicago State picked up its first victory since 2014 … Grand Canyon junior defender Madison Cox had four shots and a goal in the Lopes two losses … Utah Valley senior forward Taylor Kirk scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 shutout victory over Oklahoma.
Other defensive nominees included: Seattle U freshman goalkeeper Ayana Robles earned a shutout victory over Boise State and allowed just on goal on the weekend … NM State sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Martin made 11 saves vs. Valparaiso and six saves vs. UIC … UTRGV freshman goalkeeper Kinga Szemik started recorded two shutout victories in her first two career games.