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Award roll call: Bast, Willis, Linder, Krier, Fechter, Brown, Decker, Wilson
ABOVE: University of Colorado goalkeeper Kara Linder clears the ball on Friday against Nebraska. Linder was named defensive player of the week for the second time this season. (Photo by George Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com) BELOW: CU defender Quinn Krier was named the Big 12′s newcomer of the week. (Photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
Find some more room on the mantle, Martha. Players from all over Colorado received awards for their play last weekend. Let’s take a look, starting in Boulder. … University of Colorado soccer players Kara Linder and Quinn Krier have been honored by the Big 12, the conference announced.
Linder was named defensive player of the week for the second time this season.
Linder notched her third consecutive shutout in Big 12 play with 1-0 victories over Nebraska and Iowa State. She recorded six saves during the weekend, with five against Nebraska, holding the high-scoring Huskers scoreless for the first time this season. Linder has earned six wins this season, including four shutouts. She has 10 career shutouts, third on the program’s all-time list.
Krier received the first weekly award of her young career. She was named the league’s newcomer of the week.
In her first collegiate starts, Krier played all but five minutes in CU’s two matches. She assisted the Colorado defense as it kept the Husker offense scoreless on 21 shots, with just five on goal.
The Buffaloes are 3-0 in conference play and will face Oklahoma and Baylor this weekend. The Sooners visit Boulder at 4 p.m. Friday. CU will travel to Waco, Texas, to take on Baylor on Sunday.
SUN BELT PLAYER OF THE WEEK: University of Denver freshman forward Kaitlin Bast has been named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season. Additionally, she was named to the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week. Bast scored five goals and added two assists in a pair of wins. Denver opened Sun Belt Conference action with a 6-0 victory against Louisiana-Monroe on Friday and a 6-1 win against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday.
SCAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Colorado College’s Matt Fechter, who struck for three goals and added an assist in two games last weekend, was named offensive player of the week by the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Fechter recorded the first two multipoint games of his career while leading the Tigers to a pair of non-conference victories and the 2009 Bill Boddington Memorial Tournament title. The freshman forward had the first multi-goal game of his young career when he scored twice in a span of 4:59 during CC’s 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Friday. The following day, Fechter tallied a goal and set up another as the Tigers defeated the University of Dallas 4-0. Fechter leads the Tigers with four goals and 10 points, and is tied for second with a pair of assists.
CONFERENCE USA HONOR: Junior forward Tiffany Brown of Colorado College was named the Conference USA offensive player of the week, which included a five-point performance against Southern Methodist. Brown is the Conference USA scoring leader in league play and overall. She has 23 goals and 57 points at CC.
MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: University of Denver junior goalkeeper Joe Willis has been named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week. Willis was named to the Big West Challenge All-Tournament Team after leading the Pioneers to within one goal of the tournament championship. Willis had 10 saves in a shutout, his second in as many games, against No. 24 Cal State-Northridge on Friday and held Cal State-Fullerton to a single goal in Denver’s 2-1 victory on Sunday. The Pioneers and Coastal Carolina ended the Big West Challenge with identical records, but the Chanticleers won the tournament with one more goal scored.
RMAC WOMEN’S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Metro State’s Becca Mays and Becca Maloney were named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively. Mays, a senior forward from San Antonio, scored five goals in three games last week. Her most impressive performance came on Friday; she scored three goals, her second hat trick of the season and third of her career, in a 5-1 win at Colorado-Colorado Springs. Maloney, a senior goalkeeper from Colorado Springs, earned the victory in all three games last week, allowing just one goal in 248 minutes. The Roadrunners, ranked No. 6 in the nation host Adams State on Friday and Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday.
RMAC MEN’S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Ted Decker and Philip Wilson of the Colorado School of Mines were named RMAC defensive and offensive players of the week, respectively. Decker, a senior defender from Butte, Mont., helped Mines earn shutout victories over Colorado Christian and Colorado-Colorado Springs. Decker scored a goal in each game to bring his season total to three. Decker and the CSM defense have allowed just seven goals through 10 games this season and have shut out six opponents. Wilson, a sophomore midfielder from Mansfield, Texas, scored two game-winning goals and added one assist. Wilson is tied for fourth in the RMAC in points (11), goals (four) and assists (three). The Orediggers will play Friday at Regis University then will host Metro State on Sunday.
CHRIS SHARPE HEADED TO D.C.: MLS pool goalkeeper Chris Sharpe will be headed to the nation’s capital for the weekend as D.C. United’s Josh Wicks is out four to six weeks with a dislocated shoulder and a sprained knee. Wicks was hurt in a 2-1 loss Sunday to San Jose. Milos Kocic is expected to be the starter, and Sharpe, who lives in Denver and trains with the Colorado Rapids, will be on hand as a backup.
CUE THE AUDIO: And here is the American Soccer Minute for week 29. Click this link and listen to the predictions. The Rapids host New England on Saturday night in Colorado’s final regular-season match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
RALSTON INJURED: New England Revolution captain Steve Ralston will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, the team said. Ralston was injured in the 19th minute of a 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday. New England will mark the third consecutive opponent the Rapids have faced who lost a key player before their match (Danny Dichio, Toronto; Darren Huckerby, San Jose).
BLANCO IN LONG SLEEVES: The Colorado Rapids will open their 15th Major League Soccer season in 2010 on the road against Chivas USA on March 28 and will host Cuauhtemoc Blanco and the Chicago Fire in their home opener at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on April 3. The complete 2010 schedule will be released later. Single-game tickets for Opening Day will go on sale in early February.
RAPIDS CREATE TIES WITH COLORADO FUSION: The Colorado Rapids today announced that the Colorado Fusion Soccer Club has joined the club’s Rapids adidas Alliance. The Colorado Fusion joins the three other charter Colorado youth soccer clubs in the alliance: the Boulder County Force Soccer Club, the Denver-based Colorado Storm Soccer Association and the Pride Soccer Club, which is from Colorado Springs. The Rapids adidas Alliance was established to create a working relationship between existing clubs that benefits soccer development through shared resources and encouraging players to stay in their home clubs in the U11-U14 age groups. Those players have direct access to the Rapids U16-U18 Development Academy teams through visible scouting and direct coaching and curriculum ties.
ALL MISTY ABOUT THE NASL: Orren Schwarz of Chicago’s Daily Herald writes about a tribute the Chicago Fire recently gave to the Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League. I try not to miss an opportunity to put NASL news on the Web site. Read Schwarz’s story here.
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