Women's Soccer

MVC Women's Soccer Weekly Notebook (8-25-26)

This week's Missouri Valley Conference women's soccer award winners include:  Emely Lopez of Indiana State; Zoey Mahoney of Drake; and Sidney Lazenby of UIC.

Player of the Week
Emely Lopez, Indiana State, Fr.
Lopez scored three goals and added five assists over Indiana State’s pair of wins over Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and Chicago State as the Sycamores improved to 3-1 overall on the season.  The Shakopee, Minn. native opened the week on Thursday evening with a two-goal, four-assist performance against the Pomeroys in Indiana State’s 12-0 win over SMWC. Lopez continued her hot streak to open the season recording her third goal of the week and her fifth assist in the Sycamores’ 5-1 win over Chicago State on Sunday afternoon.

Defender of the Week
Zoey Mahoney, Drake, Sr.
Mahoney anchored an impressive defensive weekend for the Bulldogs. The Waukee native distributed two assists as Drake took down in-state foe Iowa State and St. Thomas, both by 2-0 margins. Mahoney and the rest of the Drake defense locked their opponents down in a pair of shutouts.

Goalkeeper of the Week
Sidney Lazenby, UIC, So.
Making her first career start for UIC, Lazenby recorded a clean sheet in the Flames' 0-0 draw against Big10 opponent Illinois. The non-conference contest saw Lazenby come up with four saves to stop the Illini from finding the back of the net during the 90 minutes of action. Illinois was a Top-40 RPI team last season.
 
Date Player Defender Goalkeeper
Aug. 18 Brooke Gosse, SIU Brielle LaBerge, UE Greta Genie, BEL
Aug. 25 Emely Lopez, INS Zoey Mahoney, DU Sidney Lazenby, UIC

  • Drake's Linsey Horner picked up career win No. 150 in the 2-0 home win against Iowa State last Thursday.
  • Indiana State finds itself near the national leaderboard in a host of statistics through the first two weeks of the season.  The Sycamores lead the nation in assists per game (6.25), are third in goal differential (+18), and second in points per game (17.25).  ISU's 20 total goals is second only to Purdue (23). Individually, Emely Lopez is tied for the national lead with five assists.
  • Evansville's Izzie Ryan scored her first career goal and played all 90 minutes to help Evansville post a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over SEMO. This marks the first time the Aces have won their home opener in shutout fashion since 2021.
  • Murray State's aggressive non-conference schedule continued last week with a 3-0 loss at No. 7 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish's attack overcame a season-high seven saves from Racers goalkeeper Griselda Revolorio. Revolorio's performance topped her previous season high of six saves, set against Missouri on Aug. 16, and came against a season-high 30 shots, more than double what she faced in either of Murray State's first two matches.
  • Belmont split a pair of matches last week, rallying to defeat Chattanooga, 2-1, with two goals in the final 25 minutes.  Reagan Ross provided the game-winner for the Bruins.
  • Coming off an impressive 0-0 draw against Illinois, UIC returns home to Flames Field on Thursday for a non-conference contest against the DePaul Blue Demons. The cross-town rivalry is set to kick off at 6:00 p.m. Thursday's contest will mark a celebration of UIC students, faculty, and staff, along with the season's first scarf giveaway.
  • On Thursday at Lindenwood, Illinois State's Madi Valenti posted her 18th career shutout, moving into sole possession of fourth place in program history and helping the Redbirds start a season 2-0 for the first time since 2014.Then, Valenti made four saves in goal for the Redbirds against UT Martin on Sunday, bringing her career total to 176 saves and moving her into fifth place in program history.
  • UNI's Hailey Luedtke made her first two collegiate appearances and starts in goal for UNI in matches against Omaha and Northern Illinois. She recorded 10 saves in her collegiate debut with only one goal allowed vs. Omaha, the most saves by a UNI keeper in their Panther debut since at least 2008. She added seven saves against Northern Illinois.
  • Valpo's Brylie Walos scored a goal in each of Valpo's two matches last week after entering the week with no career goals in her first 19 matches. Goal against WIU ended up being the match-winning goal.
  • Southern Illinois battled Auburn last week and fell, 3-0.  The Saluki goalkeepers collected five saves on the night. Reagan Miller had three and freshman KK Miller added two in her first collegiate appearance.