United Athletic Conference

UT Rio Grande Valley's Sarah Bonney and Kansas City's Liz Mann were selected as the Western Athletic Conference Women's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for Aug. 20-26, respectively.

 

Bonney, a senior forward from Winneba, Ghana helped propel UT Rio Grande Valley to a 6-0 win over Alabama State. Bonney recorded a hat trick and an assist in their home victory. With her three goals and seven points this weekend, she is now the all-time leader in career goals at UT Rio Grande Valley (26) while moving into a tie for first all-time in career points (65) in program history.

 

Liz Mann, a junior midfielder from Kansas City, Mo., led the Roos defense in posting two shutouts in their first two games of the season. With Mann as the centerpiece, Kansas City held both opponents to a combined nine shots on goal. Mann also added her third career goal after heading in a Kansas City corner kick against Illinois State.

 

Other offensive nominees: California Baptist's Amy Aquino posted a goal in each of the team's first two games… Eszter Toth of CSU Bakersfield knocked in her first goal of the season in a 2-1 victory over Pacific… Grand Canyon's Emma Anderson tallied the game winning goal against Stetson… Preseason WAC Player of the Year Rylan Childers began her campaign by recording a goal and an assist on the weekend, helping the Roos get off to a 2-0 start on the season… NM State forward Shea O'Connor recorded her first goal as an Aggie against Abilene Christian… Amber Tripp of Utah Valley had two goals on the weekend, scoring against Michigan State and Michigan… 

 

Other defensive nominees: California Baptist's Abigail Tyhurst helped lead the Lancers to an undefeated start while posting a career-best five saves against UC Riverside… CSU Bakersfield defender Jasmine Bowman led a backline that held Pacific to just one goal… Hannah Edwards of Grand Canyon helped lead Grand Canyon to a 1-0 victory over Stetson in their season opener… NM State's Corey Kizer helped the Aggies hold defending Mountain West Champion Wyoming to just one goal… Anna Torslov of UT Rio Grande Valley helped her team complete a shutout against Alabama State.

 

California Baptist and Kansas City both started the season off with 2-0 starts. The Lancers grabbed victories over Holy Cross, 3-0 and UC Riverside, 3-1. Meanwhile, Kansas City earned two home wins against Indiana State, 1-0 and Illinois State, 2-0.

 

California Baptist and Kansas City are tied atop the conference with one week in the books. Both teams had strong showings on the defensive side with CBU allowing only one goal while Kansas City recorded shutouts in both of their matchups. California Baptist also netted six goals, placing them alongside UT Rio Grande Valley as the goal leaders amongst the conference. UT Rio Grande Valley also leads the league in assists after finishing the weekend with five passes leading to goals.

 

Sarah Bonney is already making a claim for postseason awards as she finished the weekend with three goals and an assist. Giving her an impressive seven points in just two games. With her hat trick, the senior from Ghana is now the all-time leader in career goals (26) at UTRGV. With nearly a full season left to play, she is also now tied for the most points in program history (65).

 

Kansas City began the 2019 season with consecutive shutouts. This marks the third time in school history that the Roos have started 2-0 ('13, '15) and the first time they have opened the season with back-to-back shutouts. Goalies Erin Roth and Afton Fennewald combined for nine saves on the weekend and 0.00 goals against average.

 

Utah Valley redshirt junior foward Amber Tripp shined in their two contests against Big Ten opponents Michigan and Michigan State. Tripp recorded two goals and five shots on goal in UVU's pair of Michigan matchups.

 

WAC teams played in two matches this weekend against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Seattle U fell to Washington State 4-0 while Abilene Christian defeated NM State 3-1.

 

WAC teams will play in five more matches against teams that made an NCAA Tournament appearance last year. Two matches hosted by WAC schools will be available to stream on the WAC Digital Network at www.wacsports.com/watch.