A scoring splurge from Cal Poly's Elise Krieghoff and stingy goaltending by UC Riverside's Elizabeth Silas netted the sophomore duo Big West Women's Soccer Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively.
Krieghoff Retakes NCAA Goals Lead With Impressive Effort
Cal Poly sophomore Elise Krieghoff (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan HS) tied the school's single-season record for goals and reclaimed the nation's No. 1 ranking in the category while gaining Big West Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week accolades.
Krieghoff notched four goals and assisted on another as she had involvement in all five goals the Mustang offense generated for the week.
The four goals upped her season total to 15, which tied the program's single-season record that Kolleen Kassis initially set in 1992. The total also establishes a Cal Poly single-season record during the Big West Conference era (1996-present) and eclipses the old mark of 13 owned by Gina Oceguera (1997). In addition, the 15 scores places her in a tie for No. 8 in Big West single-season annals and currently leads the nation.
Krieghoff cashed in both goals in Cal Poly's 2-0 win over Long Beach State on Friday. She scored both in a span of one minute and 41 seconds in the second half. Krieghoff took advantage of a defensive miscue and booted her third game-winning goal of the year at the 55:03 mark to start her own personal scoring barrage.
In Sunday's 4-3 shootout loss to UC Irvine, Krieghoff buried a pair of goals and added an assist to increase her points total – 15 goals and two assists – to a nation's co-high 32. With the Mustangs down 2-0 at halftime, Krieghoff erupted for a pair of goals within the first five minutes of the second stanza to knot the score at 2-2. Her assist came on a cross from the right corner that she placed perfectly to the middle in front of the goal.
Others nominated: Erica Mazeau (Cal State Fullerton); Kaitlin Anzalone (UC Riverside)
Silas Helps Highlanders to First 2-0 League Start Since 2005
UC Riverside sophomore Elizabeth Silas (Upland, Calif./Upland HS) anchored a 2-0 league start, the program's first since 2005, and earned Big West Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week acclaim.
The 5-6 netminder yielded just one goal and made 10 saves to support the Highlanders in defeating Cal State Northridge (3-1) and Hawai‘i (2-0). The two wins leave UCR alone in first place atop the conference standings for the first time since early in the 2005 season which they started 4-0 en route to an undefeated 4-0-3 campaign and the program's first NCAA Tournament berth.
Silas notched two saves against the Matadors and followed that with a season-high tying eight stops versus the Rainbow Wahine. She registered her second clean sheet of the year in the UH win.
Silas ranks in the top four in the Big West in goals against average (4th), save percentage (3rd) and saves (4th).
Others nominated: Morgan Batcheller (Cal State Fullerton)