TicketSmarter WAC Women’s Soccer Players of the Week Announced
DENVER – Abilene Christian's Natalie Jones and Grand Canyon's Hannah Edwards have been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for August 16 through August 22.
Jones, a junior midfielder from Lubbock, Texas, scored both of ACU's goals on the week as the Wildcats opened the season with an overtime loss at NM State and a win at UTEP. Against the Aggies, she scored the equalizing goal in the 77th minute to force the game into extra time and then put the ball in the net in the 22nd minute of Sunday's match at UTEP to give ACU the 1-0 win. She became the first Wildcats since 2011 to score in each of the first two matches of the season and moved into eighth place in ACU history with 15 career goals.
Edwards, a senior defender from Aurora, Colo., became GCU's all-time leader in minutes played on Sunday against Central Arkansas with over 6,576 minutes played. She also helped lead the Lopes to a pair of shutout victories with a 3-0 shutout victory on opening night against Southeastern Louisiana and then a 5-0 win over UCA on Sunday. GCU allowed just a combined 12 shots in the two matches, compared with 56 shots on offense as the Lopes started the season 2-0.
Other offensive nominees: Dixie State's Whitley Griffiths scored the game-winner in the 88th minute of the Trailblazers' 2-1 season-opening win at UNLV on Thursday and then scored again on Sunday against New Mexico … Grand Canyon's Dani Babb led the Lopes with two goals in the opening week of play, scoring a goal apiece in Thursday's 3-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana and Sunday's 5-0 win over Central Arkansas … Lamar's Isela Ramirez scored the first goal and assisted on the game-winning goal in a 3-1 win over Grambling on Thursday afternoon … NM State's Corey Kizer picked an opportune time to move into the Aggies' top-ten scoring list, putting in the overtime game-winner in the 93rd minute of Thursday's 2-1 win over Abilene Christian … UT Rio Grande Valley's Shentatious Knox scored her first goal of the season in a 3-1 loss at South Dakota State on Sunday … Utah Valley's Nicole Ray scored the game-winning goal in a 2-0 shutout win over Pac-12 foe Arizona in Friday's season opener.
Other defensive nominees: Abilene Christian's Lily Foster recorded her first career shutout on Sunday at UTEP, making six saves in a 1-0 win … Dixie State's Kayla Gonzales was in net for the Trailblazers' season-opening win over UNLV, making six saves and allowing just one goal in a 2-1 victory … NM State's Thalia Chaverria played like a veteran in her first collegiate match, helping the Aggies give up just five shot attempts in a 2-1 overtime win over Abilene Christian … Seattle U's Michelle Adam secured the backline as the Redhawks went 1-1 in Oregon, suffering a 1-0 loss at Oregon State before bouncing back with a 2-0 win at Portland State … Utah Valley's Heather Stainbrook helped anchor the UVU defense to a clean sheet in a 2-0 shutout win over Arizona, holding the Wildcats to just one shot on the night.