DU's Hamilton, Rey and WIU's Atkinson Earn Season's Initial Weekly Awards
DU's Hamilton, Rey and WIU's Atkinson Earn Season's Initial Weekly Awards
ELMHURST, Ill. – Denver's Kristen Hamilton was named The Summit League's Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week while teammate Cassidy Rey and Western Illinois' Laura Atkinson were named Defensive Players of the Week for their performances Aug. 23-25.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kristen Hamilton, Denver
Sr. // F // Littleton, Colo.
Hamilton earns Offensive Player of the Week honors after surpassing the 100 career points with a pair of goals in a 3-0 win over Northern Colorado Sunday. She scored the game-winner in the 42nd minute and provided the Pioneers an insurance goal in the 54th minute of the match. The senior forward added an assist on Francesca Garzelloni's game-winner in overtime to defeat Colorado College Friday. For the week, Hamilton had two goals and one assist for five points as Denver captured its first Colorado Cup trophy.
Also nominated: Gaby Romo, Fort Wayne; Tori Minnich, IUPUI; Dani Patterson, South Dakota State; Kristin Becker, Western Illinois.
DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Cassidy Rey, Denver
Fr. // GK // Arcadia, Calif.
Rey records Defensive Player of the Week honors after leading No. 25 Denver to a pair of opening weekend victories. In Friday's win over Colorado College, a 2012 NCAA Tournament participant, the freshman made eight saves, two in overtime, to help the Pioneers secure the 2-1 victory. On Sunday, she made three stops in just under 81 minutes of action to help Denver to a 3-0 shutout win. For the week, Rey had 11 saves, a 0.50 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
Laura Atkinson, Western Illinois
Sr. // GK // Oregon, Wis.
Atkinson collects her sixth career Defensive Player of the Week award after guiding Western Illinois to a 2-1 double overtime win at Northwestern. The senior made nine stops including one in the second overtime period to help secure the win. She had a 0.89 goals against average for the week with a .900 save percentage. The Leathernecks' win over the Wildcats was the first over a Big Ten opponent in school history.
Also nominated: Sam Pavlika, Fort Wayne; Giselle Guzman, IUPUI.
ABOUT THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
In its fourth decade of Division I athletics, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of over 120,000 at eight institutions, including three located in top 60 U.S. metro populations and two land-grant universities. Member institutions include: Denver (University of Denver), Fort Wayne (Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), North Dakota State University, Omaha (University of Nebraska Omaha), the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Western Illinois University. Previously known as the Mid-Continent Conference, The Summit League rebranded in 2007 and has since produced eight NCAA Champions, 62 All-Americans and 50 Academic All-America selections.
Follow The Summit League on Twitter @thesummitleague, @summithoops and @summitchamps
#thesummitleague
