DENVER- Kansas City's Lexie Howard and NM State's Dmitri Fong have been named the Western Athletic Conference Women's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Aug. 21-27.
Howard, a junior forward/midfielder from Kearney, Mo (Kearney High School), played a role in each of the three goals Kansas City produced this weekend. In the 2-0 victory over Illinois-Chicago on Friday, Howard assisted the game winner and scored the final goal of the match. Sunday against South Dakota State, she scored the game winner in the 1-0 win. Howard finished with eight shots and five points on the weekend.
Fong, a redshirt freshman goalkeeper from Albuquerque, N.M. (Cottonwood Classical Preparatory), tallied 12 saves for the weekend while shutting out both opponents. Friday was the first time in school history NM State won against rival New Mexico in their eight times meeting. Fong was a transfer from New Mexico and shut out her previous team with seven saves while facing 18 shots. Fong made five saves against Grambling State on Sunday. This is the second week in a row NM State has beaten a rival for the first time in program history as well as Fong receiving this recognition.
Other offensive nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Kamari Hines scored the game-winner against UTEP in double overtime on Sunday… Chicago State's Sara Marcotte scored the game-winner against Saint Xavier which snapped a 16 game losing streak… Grand Canyon's Madison Cox scored two goals in the 2-1 defeat over Weber State in overtime… NM State's Audriana Chavez scored the game-winning goal against rival New Mexico in the final seconds of the game for the first win in series history… Seattle U's Jennifer Plummer scored a goal and had an assist in the 3-0 defeat over Pacific… UT Rio Grande Valley's Jada MacLean scored the game-winning goal against Texas A&M- Corpus Christi in double overtime… Utah Valley's Sydney Fitzpatrick scored a goal against UNLV in the 2-1 double overtime loss.
Other defensive nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Jordan Bertram recorded nine saves on the weekend and tallied a shutout against UTEP in the double overtime victory… Chicago State's Audra Wisehart made two saves in the win against Saint Xavier and recorded four saves against Campbell… Grand Canyon's Blakely Fraasch made three saves in the 1-0 loss against Northern Arizona and had one save in the 2-1 overtime win against Weber State... Kansas City's Abby Small played every minute of both matches which helped her team shutout both Illinois-Chicago and South Dakota and led the defense to hold both opponents to 13 shots and five on goal combined… Seattle U's Stephanie Spiekerman led the defense to shutout their opponent for the first time this season in the 3-0 victory over Pacific… UTRGV's Erica Gonzalez made two saves in the double overtime shutout win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi… Utah Valley's Tori Smith played a key role in the defensive midfield position to shut down UNLV's and CSUN's offensive threats.