DENVER- Grand Canyon's Milla Benedetti and Seattle U's Ashley Routh have been named the Western Athletic Conference Women's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Oct. 23-29.
Benedetti, a senior forward from Vancouver, Wash. (Mountain View High School), had a big impact on the crutial 3-0 victory over CSU Bakersfield. In the 56 minutes she saw the field, she netted the game-winning goal in the tenth minute when she flicked the ball and slotted it in the back of the net. The Lopes became the first team at Grand Canyon to secure a spot in a postseason tournament since the Lopes transitioned to Division I.
Routh, a redshirt sophomore goalkeeper from Edmonds, Was. (Meadowdale), recorded six saves in the 2-0 victory over Utah Valley. She saw the pitch for 81 minutes and faced 11 shots. With her help, Seattle U clinched the fourth seed in the post season tournament.
Other offensive nominees: Kansas City's Kara Priest recorded her first career hat trick in the 8-0 victory over Chicago State… Seattle U's Leahi Manthei posted the game-winning goal and an assist after coming off of the bench in the 2-0 win over Utah Valley… UT Rio Grande Valley's Gina Steiner scored her first goal of the weekend to tie the game 1-1 and then scored the game-winning goal in the 3-2 victory over NM State.
Other defensive nominees: Grand Canyon's Blakely Fraasch recorded two saves in the 3-0 shutout victory over CSU Bakersfield to clinch a spot in the tournament… Kansas City's Maddi Cipolla helped the defense all 90 minutes in recording the 8-0 victory over Chicago State… UT Rio Grande Valley's Tuva Rolstad Nilsen defensively helped keep NM State to seven shots with four of those on goal in the 3-2 victory.