Lukas, Sparkman, Kappel Named #SummitWSOC Players of the Week
Lukas, Sparkman, Kappel Named #SummitWSOC Players of the Week
ELMHURST, Ill. – North Dakota State's Lizzie Lukas and South Dakota's Rebecca Sparkman were named The Summit League's Women's Soccer Offensive Players of the Week while Western Illinois' Victoria Kappel was the Defensive Player of the Week for their performances Aug. 22-24, marking the initial awards of the season.
OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Lizzie Lukas, North Dakota State
Jr. // F // South St. Paul, Minn.
Lukas earns her first career Offensive Player of the Week award after recording a hat trick in an 8-0 win over Presentation College on Sunday. The junior scored goals in the sixth, 23rd and 52nd minutes of the match. All four of her shots taken on the week were on frame for a perfect 1.000 shot on goal percentage. Lukas also helped the Bison to a 1-0 win over in-state rival North Dakota to open the 2014 campaign on Friday.
Rebecca Sparkman, South Dakota
Jr. // M // Eden Prairie, Minn.
Sparkman collects her first career Offensive Player of the Week honor after collecting three goals within the first 18 minutes of the match in a 4-0 win over the College of St. Mary. She also added an assist on the fourth Coyote goal by Teagan Eberle in the 65th minute. Sparkman had a 1.000 shot on goal percentage (3-for-3) during the week. USD opened the season with a 3-0 win over Northern State Friday.
Also nominated: Taylor Heidorn, IUPUI; Diana Potterveld, South Dakota State; Sarah Hall, Western Illinois.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Victoria Kappel, Western Illinois
Sr. // GK // Orland Park, Ill.
Kappel earns the Defensive Player of the Week award for the second time in her career after posting a 1-1 record on the week. On Sunday, the senior goalie earned a shutout with one save in the 2-0 win over Northern Illinois. Kappel opened the 2014 season with eight saves in the loss at Kent State, the preseason MAC East favorite. On the week, Kappel played all 180 minutes in net with nine saves, a .750 save percentage and 1.50 GAA.
Also nominated: Catherine Schmidt, IUPUI; Mackenzie Viktor, South Dakota.
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 nine institutions, including four 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), Oral Roberts University, 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 along with over 65 All-Americans, 60 Academic All-America selections and numerous former student-athletes competing at the highest professional level. For more information about the league and to "See The Summit", visit www.thesummitleague.org, follow on Twitter @thesummitleague, download The Summit League's Front Row app, and watch the weekly "Inside The Summit League" show at www.thesummitleague.org/itsl.
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