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WAC WOMEN'S SOCCER PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ANNOUNCED
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 recorded two shutout victories in her first two career games.
UTAH VALLEY RANKED 10TH IN THE WEST REGION
Utah Valley debuted at the No. 10 spot in the NSCAA West Region rankings. Off to a 3-1 start, UVU moved into the top 10 after the completion of the second week of the season. Seattle U made an appearance at No. 8 after the first week of the season, but dropped out this week.
SHUTOUTS IN SEATTLE
After posting 13 shutouts last season, including a WAC record eight in conference matches, the Seattle U defense picked up where it left off last year with shutout victories over Texas and Boise State in its first two matches. San Jose State finally solved the Redhawks' defense for a goal in the third match of season. SU has shutout an opponent in 13 of its last 16 matches.
GETTING OFFENSIVE
UTRGV set and equaled a number of school records in a 4-0 victory over Prairie View A&M on Aug. 28. The Vaqueros attempted a school record 38 shots in the contest, and junior Andreya Barrera's eight shot attempts also were a program record. The four-goal margin of victory tied for the largest in UTRGV history (Grambling State, 2014).
FRESH CLEAN SHEETS
Two freshman goalkeepers, UTRGV's Kinga Szemik and Utah Valley's Brooklyn Nielsen, both made sparkling debuts this weekend, with neither allowing a goal in the first two games of their respective careers. Szemik started two contests for UTRGV and blanked Lamar and Prairie View A&M. Nielsen came off the bench to hold Southern Utah scoreless in the second half and then shutout Oklahoma on the road, handing the Sooners their first loss in Norman since 2014.
NOT SO SUDDEN DEATH
UMKC's 1-1 draw against Creighton on Aug. 21 marks the 17th-straight game that went to overtime for the 'Roos that they have either won or tied. The last time UMKC lost in overtime was a 2-1 loss at Missouri State on Sept. 16, 2011.
CORNERS
UTRGV attempted a program record 15 corner kicks in the season-opening win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Aug. 19, then followed that up by attempting no corner kicks in the loss to Fairleigh Dickinson on Aug. 21.
COMING TO YOU LIVE
The WAC Digital Network will broadcast 27 regular season matches and all five matches of the 2016 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
This week there are two matches on the WDN:
Sept. 2: Utah Valley hosts UNLV at 7:30 p.m. MT
Sept. 5: Seattle U hosts Washington, 7 p.m. PT
Tune in to catch both matches live at www.WACSports.com/live.
NCAA OPPONENTS
WAC teams will play in eight matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Both matches hosted by WAC schools will be available to stream on the WAC Digital Network at www.WACSports.com/watch.
Aug. 22 Fairleigh Dickinson def. UTRGV, 3-2 (OT) (WDN)
Aug. 22 No. 2 Arizona def. Utah Valley, 5-1
Aug. 28 San Jose State def. Seattle U (Boise, Idaho), 1-0
Aug. 28 No. 25 Loyola Marymount def. CSU Bakersfield, 4-1
Sept. 4 Chicago State at Oakland, 1 p.m. ET
Sept. 5 Washington at Seattle U, 7 p.m. PT (WDN)
Sept. 15 Seattle U at Washington State, 5 p.m. PT
Sept. 16 UMKC at South Dakota State, 6 p.m. CT
2016 WAC TOURNAMENT
The WAC Women's Soccer Tournament will be held in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 3-4 and 6, hosted by UMKC. The top six eligible teams will participate (Grand Canyon is ineligible due to its transition from Division II to Division I).