WAC Women's Soccer Players of the Week Announced
DENVER – California Baptist's Rola Badawiya and UT Rio Grande Valley's Kinga Szemik were selected as the Western Athletic Conference Women's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for Sept. 30-Oct. 6, respectively.
Badawiya, a junior forward from Riverside, Calif., led her team to a pair of road wins, making the Lancers the only conference team to emerge undefeated after the first weekend of league play. Badawiya opened the weekend with a five-point effort as she managed an assist and a goal in a 3-1 win over CSU Bakersfield. She then recorded her second goal of the weekend as the Lancers bested NM State 1-0. Badawiya's two-goal weekend brings her season total to seven goals, making her the league's second-leading goal scorer.
Szemik, a senior goalkeeper from Pietrzykowice, Bielsko, Poland, played all 200 minutes between the sticks for UT Rio Grande Valley as they managed a 1-0-1 record on the weekend. Szemik nabbed seven saves in a double-overtime battle with Kansas City that eventually led to a tie. The netminder recorded a .889 save percentage across two matches for the Vaqueros. She also picked up her fourth shutout of the season in a home win over Grand Canyon. This marks the second player of the week selection for the Preseason All-WAC First Team goalkeeper.
Other offensive nominees: Grand Canyon's Raeanne Jones picked up her first career goal as she netted a game-winner against NM State... Holly Rothering of Seattle U saw two shots reach the back of the net as she led her team to a 4-1 win over Chicago State... UT Rio Grande Valley's Shentatious Knox recorded the Vaqueros lone goal in a 1-1 tie with conference leader Kansas City... Jenna Shepherd of Utah Valley netted two goals in a comeback effort that fell just short on the road against CSU Bakersfield.
Other defensive nominees: California Baptist's Romy Salvador went 2-0 on the weekend and recorded her second shutout of the season... Grand Canyon's Hannah Edwards notched her first career assist and anchored the Lopes backline in a victory over NM State... Erin Roth of Kansas City recorded a season-high five saves in a 1-1 draw as UT Rio Grande Valley took the Roos to double overtime.