Long Beach State junior Nadia Link bombarded the opposition with a scoring frenzy and Cal State Fullerton senior Caitlin Mellano led a defensive juggernaut against two of the league's top scoring clubs to capitalize on Big West Women's Soccer Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Link "Linked" To Nearly Every Long Beach State Goal
Nadia Link (Rowland Heights, Calif/Walnut HS) played a role in five of Long Beach State’s six goals as her team clinched a berth in the conference postseason tournament, landing her Big West Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week honors.
The junior assisted on both 49er goals in a 2-0 victory over UC Davis on Friday. She returned to the pitch on Sunday, delivering two goals and an assist in a 4-2 triumph against Pacific. She booted home her first goal in the seventh minute before eventually notching the game-winner at the 78:15 mark, which answered a game-tying goal by Pacific minutes earlier.
Link’s seven points (2 goals, 3 assists) for the week improved her season totals to a conference-high 14 goals and 10 assists. She is the first LBSU player to reach double figures in goals and assists since the program was reinstated in 1998.
Others nominated: Lauren Mellano (Cal State Fullerton), Lexi Kopf (UC Irvine)
Mellano Records Game-Winning Assist, Spearheads Stingy Defense
Caitlin Mellano (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) closed out her Cal State Fullerton career with Big West Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording a game-winning assist and holding down two of the conference’s top goal scorers.
Her corner kick in the second minute of overtime found the head of her sister, Lauren, who headed the ball over the line in a 1-0 win over Pacific on Friday. Caitlin limited Tiger leading scorer Kristina Wavomba to just three shots (none on goal) for the night and led a defense that allowed the Tigers only two shots on goal overall. In a 4-1 win over UC Davis on “Senior Day”, Caitlin held Aggie top scorer Allison Kelly to just one shot.
Others nominated: Kaitlyn Gustaves (Long Beach State); CoCo Goodson (UC Irvine)