TicketsCINCINNATI - The American Athletic Conference has announced its weekly award recipients with four members of the University of Cincinnati women's soccer team earning awards, including Jaycie Brown and Vanessa Gilles, who were named the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively. The Bearcats, who are undefeated a 6-0-1 this year, also saw freshmen Sophie Gorman and Madison Less named to the weekly Honor Roll.
UC is coming off a 1-0 win in the Riverboat Rivalry at Northern Kentucky (Thursday) and a 2-1, come-from-behind victory over visiting Purdue (Sunday) that pushed the Bearcats to the best start in program history. The lone team remaining in the American with an undefeated record, the Bearcats' win over the Boilermakers Sunday afternoon not only kept the team out of the loss column, but also secured both the 150th career coaching win for Head Coach Neil Stafford while also posting the 375th all-time win in program history.
// HONORS IN 2017
With the four honors attained today, the Bearcats now have collected eight total awards from the Conference this fall. Brown's offensive award is the second of the year and in as many weeks for the Bearcats after Julie Gavorski was tabbed for the accolade last week (9/4/17). Gilles picked up her third defensive accolade this season and the third for the Bearcats after she was also honored the first two weeks of the year. While Gorman and Less both earned their first honors of the season, they collected the second and third, respectively, Honor Roll certificate of the year after Gavorski was placed on that list in Week 2 (8/28/17).
// BROWN GETS THE WINNER
Brown got the nod for the weekly accolade after her gritty play led to the game-winning goal against Purdue Sunday afternoon. With the match tied at 1-1, Dee Picou played the ball into the center of the box where Brown chested the ball to the ground and immediately fired a shot on goal, only to see the Boilermaker keeper deny the goal. But, the ball bounced directly back to Brown who hit a superb half-volley with her left foot into the open net with just over four minutes remaining in the match. With the game-winner to her credit, Brown now has six for her career, which ties for the eighth-most in UC history. The accolade for Brown is the third of her career as she has earned the offensive accolade once in each of the past three seasons (10/5/15, 10/23/16 and this week).
// GILLES CONTINUES TO ANCHOR
Gilles is no stranger to earning the weekly defensive honor as she has been tabbed for the accolade for the third time this season (8/21, 8/28 and this week) and for the ninth time in her career. After earning the honor once in both 2014 and 2015, Gilles was named to the award four times last year. This week, Gilles was honored after playing the full 180 minutes and anchoring the defense to two strong showings as UC remained undefeated. The senior defender helped UC to a clean sheet at NKU in a 1-0 Riverboat Rivalry win (Thursday) before only an own goal in the Purdue match blemished the defense. So far this year, UC has posted four clean sheets and allowed just four goals in total.
// PHENOMENAL FRESHMEN
Not to be overlooked for their contributions to keeping the Bearcats undefeated were rookies Gorman and Less as both earned spots on the Honor Roll. Gorman was honored after she netted a pair of goals over the weekend, including the winner in a 1-0 defeat of NKU in the Riverboat Rivalry before tying the match at 1-1 with Purdue Sunday afternoon after UC fell behind on an own goal. Less, who played Thursday's rivalry match, walked away with a career-high three saves on Norse shots and recorded her second - and the team's fourth - clean sheet of 2017.
// UPCOMING ACTION
The Bearcats head to Baton Rouge, La., Thursday night for a 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) match with undefeated LSU (6-0-0).
// FOLLOWING THE BEARCATS
GoBearcats.com is your one-stop destination for all things UC Athletics. Socially, the team can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with all using the handle GoBearcatsWSOC. Head Coach Neil Stafford (@UCGaffer) also can be followed on Twitter.
UC is coming off a 1-0 win in the Riverboat Rivalry at Northern Kentucky (Thursday) and a 2-1, come-from-behind victory over visiting Purdue (Sunday) that pushed the Bearcats to the best start in program history. The lone team remaining in the American with an undefeated record, the Bearcats' win over the Boilermakers Sunday afternoon not only kept the team out of the loss column, but also secured both the 150th career coaching win for Head Coach Neil Stafford while also posting the 375th all-time win in program history.
// HONORS IN 2017
With the four honors attained today, the Bearcats now have collected eight total awards from the Conference this fall. Brown's offensive award is the second of the year and in as many weeks for the Bearcats after Julie Gavorski was tabbed for the accolade last week (9/4/17). Gilles picked up her third defensive accolade this season and the third for the Bearcats after she was also honored the first two weeks of the year. While Gorman and Less both earned their first honors of the season, they collected the second and third, respectively, Honor Roll certificate of the year after Gavorski was placed on that list in Week 2 (8/28/17).
// BROWN GETS THE WINNER
Brown got the nod for the weekly accolade after her gritty play led to the game-winning goal against Purdue Sunday afternoon. With the match tied at 1-1, Dee Picou played the ball into the center of the box where Brown chested the ball to the ground and immediately fired a shot on goal, only to see the Boilermaker keeper deny the goal. But, the ball bounced directly back to Brown who hit a superb half-volley with her left foot into the open net with just over four minutes remaining in the match. With the game-winner to her credit, Brown now has six for her career, which ties for the eighth-most in UC history. The accolade for Brown is the third of her career as she has earned the offensive accolade once in each of the past three seasons (10/5/15, 10/23/16 and this week).
// GILLES CONTINUES TO ANCHOR
Gilles is no stranger to earning the weekly defensive honor as she has been tabbed for the accolade for the third time this season (8/21, 8/28 and this week) and for the ninth time in her career. After earning the honor once in both 2014 and 2015, Gilles was named to the award four times last year. This week, Gilles was honored after playing the full 180 minutes and anchoring the defense to two strong showings as UC remained undefeated. The senior defender helped UC to a clean sheet at NKU in a 1-0 Riverboat Rivalry win (Thursday) before only an own goal in the Purdue match blemished the defense. So far this year, UC has posted four clean sheets and allowed just four goals in total.
// PHENOMENAL FRESHMEN
Not to be overlooked for their contributions to keeping the Bearcats undefeated were rookies Gorman and Less as both earned spots on the Honor Roll. Gorman was honored after she netted a pair of goals over the weekend, including the winner in a 1-0 defeat of NKU in the Riverboat Rivalry before tying the match at 1-1 with Purdue Sunday afternoon after UC fell behind on an own goal. Less, who played Thursday's rivalry match, walked away with a career-high three saves on Norse shots and recorded her second - and the team's fourth - clean sheet of 2017.
// UPCOMING ACTION
The Bearcats head to Baton Rouge, La., Thursday night for a 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) match with undefeated LSU (6-0-0).
// FOLLOWING THE BEARCATS
GoBearcats.com is your one-stop destination for all things UC Athletics. Socially, the team can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with all using the handle GoBearcatsWSOC. Head Coach Neil Stafford (@UCGaffer) also can be followed on Twitter.