By: Jeff Evans, Assistant AD for Athletic Communications
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University senior
Olivia Connell has been selected the GNAC Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week for games played October 12-18.
Connell played in all 180 minutes in the Vikings pair of 1-0 GNAC wins over Saint Martin's on Thursday and Western Oregon on Saturday, with both games at home at Harrington Field.
The senior from Woodinville was instrumental on the defensive side in both shutouts, giving the Vikings 11 clean sheets on the season to rank among the national leaders. WWU's defense ranks fourth in NCAA Division II with a 0.267 goals against average, allowing only four goals in 15 games.
Not only did Connell contribute defensively in Saturday's 1-0 Senior Day win over Western Oregon, but she scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in the 39th minute. The senior has played every minute of the season and scored two game-winning goals. In her four-year career she has started 74 matches for the Vikings, racking up 6,357 minutes played and contributing five goals and six assists.
"Liv is playing at a really high level right now. She impacts our games in so many ways as she is involved in our defending, contributes to our attack and is very dangerous on restarts," said WWU head coach
Travis Connell. "Last week was no different. She made some huge plays on defense, was part of more attacking actions than any other player on our roster and scored the game-winning goal on the penalty kick."
The Vikings have already clinched a postseason spot in the GNAC Championships, are ranked in the top 10 nationally and listed No. 1 in the West Region NPI. WWU is 11-1-3 overall with a current eight-game winning streak and 12-game undefeated streak (9-0-3) heading into road games this week at Seattle Pacific (7 pm) and Saturday at Montana State Billings (12 pm MT).
