This week's MVC women's soccer players of the week are Cece Wahlberg of Indiana State; Nikki Coryell of Valparaiso; and Taylor Harrison of Loyola.

Women's Soccer Weekly Notebook (PDF)
 

Offensive Player of the Week
Cece Wahlberg, Indiana State
Jr., F, South Elgin, Ill.
The Sycamores junior forward scored for the third straight match in a 3-1 victory over Missouri State on Sunday. She also added an assist in the win. She is tied for the team lead with five goals and 12 points this season. She ranks tied for third in those categories in the MVC.

Honorable Mention: Kelsie James (Valparaiso) & Megan Nemac (Loyola)

Defensive Player of the Week
Nikki Coryell, Valparaiso
So., GK, Aurora, Ill.
Coryell continued her stellar play in goal in the Beacons' undefeated run through the conference, posting a pair of clean sheets as Valpo secured a top-two spot in the MVC standings last week. Coryell opened the week with five saves in Valpo's shutout win at Drake and followed up with nine stops - a season high to date within conference play - to preserve the clean sheet on Sunday versus UNI. She has surrendered just one goal in Valpo's six MVC matches and the Beacons have not trailed in MVC play, noteworthy in that the score has been tied for nearly 80% of Valpo's minutes within conference matches.

Honorable Mention: Maddie Hausmann (Loyola)

Freshman of the Week
Taylor Harrison, Loyola
Fr., M, Dixon, Ill.
Loyola freshman midfielder Taylor Harrison continued to make her presence felt in the final third as the Ramblers picked up two road wins this past week. After tallying three shots in Wednesday's 2-0 win at Illinois State, Harrison, out of Dixon, Ill., recorded her first collegiate brace as part of a 5-0 rout of Southern Illinois on Sunday afternoon. She tallied her two goals across a 9:13 span in the second half, scoring in the 54th and 64th minutes. Harrison has four goals to her name this season, ranking second on the Rambler roster in the category.

Honorable Mention: Mackenzie Kent (Indiana State) & Abby White (Valparaiso)
 

LUC .. Bye, Bye, Bye  
By virtue of its victory 2-0 victory over Illinois State this past Wednesday, Loyola secured an opening-round bye in the upcoming MVC Championship.  The Ramblers can clinch a fourth straight MVC regular season title and the tournament's top seed, the latter of which comes with home field advantage, if Valparaiso loses to Evansville on Saturday evening or if it defeats the Beacons in the regular season finale for both teams on Wednesday, October 28 at Loyola Soccer Park. 

VU ..  Unbeaten Streak Continues
Despite the draw against UNI, Valpo's unbeaten streak continues at eight consecutive matches, however, tying the second-longest unbeaten streak in program history. The 2014 squad went 18 consecutive matches without losing (14-0-4), while the 2006 (8-0-0) and 2009 (7-0-1) teams each went eight straight without losing.

INS .. Streaking Sycamores
Indiana State defeated Missouri State 3-1 on Senior Day to win their third straight match. This is the first time in program history that the Sycamores have won three straight MVC matches by at least two goals.

UE .. Till Inches Closer
With two regular season matches remaining, fifth-year senior Michaela Till sits just eight saves away from tying the all-time saves record at UE. Till is currently just the third Ace in program history to have surpassed 350 saves and stands as only the second Aces with 350 or more saves and 15 or more shutouts.

ILS .. 166 Shutouts, 166 One Goals Allowed
After Illinois State redshirt junior Priya Gillan and crew helped the 'Birds to their 12th scoreless draw in program history on Sunday, ISU has now posted 166 shutouts in its 493-match history, the same number of times that it was conceded exactly one goal.

UNI .. Back to Back Again
This week was the second time this season the Panthers put together two clean sheets in a row. Senior goalkeeper Chloe Russo made 12 saves to help the Panthers put together the two shutouts. UNI had two shutouts in a row earlier in the season against St. Thomas and Viterbo.

DU .. Bulldogs Record Another Shutout
Drake went into double overtime with Illinois State and both teams ended scoreless. Keeper Kelsie Stone holds the school record for most career shutouts with 22 after Sunday's match. Seniors Libby Helverson and Alison Walls combined for nine shots and three on goal to lead the Bulldogs. Drake remains on the road to take on Missouri State on Saturday Oct. 23.

MSU .. The Final Act
Saturday's match against Drake will be the final match for head coach Rob Brewer at home. Brewer announced his retirement on Aug.18, which will go into effect at the completion of the season. Brewer started the Missouri State program in 1996 and has helped lead the Bears to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2000 and 2017, in addition to finishing in the top three of the Missouri Valley Conference standings 11 times. Brewer has helped mentor 109 all-conference selections and 82 academic all-conference honorees during his tenure and has compiled a 223-206-60 record with the Bears.  

SIU .. Defending the Home Turf
The Salukis held MVC top-seed Loyola scoreless for 43 minutes in SIU's 0-5 fall on Sunday afternoon. Keeper Maddy Alaluf recorded seven saves, while the Salukis hit the offensive attack with five shots and four on-goal.

LUC .. Approaching The Summit
Loyola senior goalkeeper Maddie Hausmann continued her sparkling play this week, picking up a pair of shutouts in two Rambler victories.  Hausmann, who has held opposing offenses scoreless for 323 consecutive minutes of game action, has eight clean sheets to her name in 2021, a mark that ranks second all-time on Loyola's single-season record board in the category.  Hausmann finds herself just one shutout shy of matching former Rambler Maddie Ford's single-season program record of nine shutouts that was set during the 2015 season.

VU .. Coryell Stands Tall
Sophomore goalkeeper Nikki Coryell surpassed the 2,500-minute mark for her career Sunday, meaning she now qualifies for career goals against average charts. Her 0.67 GAA to date in her career is easily best in Valpo history, besting Sydney Galvez-Daley's 0.80 mark, and she currently ranks second in MVC history as well.