UVU soccer: Slater named GWC player of the week

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Utah Valley University senior defender Nicole Slater has been named Great West Conference Player of the Week. The honors were announced Tuesday by the conference office.

Slater grabbed defensive honors, while South Carolina State's Blanca Barrio earned the offensive award.

Slater, a native of Sandy, Utah, spearheaded the Wolverines back line as UVU did not allow a goal all week with a 1-0 overtime win over CSU Bakersfield and a conference-opening 2-0 victory over NJIT. Besides leading the shutdown defensive effort, the defender contributed on offense with the game-winning goal in the 57th minute against the Highlanders.

This is the second consecutive week a Wolverine has received POW honors, as junior goalkeeper Lauren Sack earned last week's award. Sophomore midfielder Lexi Robison and junior defender Lexi Dunn were recognized as Players of the Week earlier this season, sweeping the Offensive and Defensive awards on Aug. 28.

Barrio, a sophomore from San Bernardino, Calif., scored both goals in SCSU's 2-0 win in its conference-opening win against Howard this past week. Barrio leads the team with four goals and five assists, which is also first in the conference, for 13 points as the Bulldogs are 7-6-0 overall and 1-0-0 in conference play.

Also nominated were Delaware State's forward Taylor Addison and goalie Katelyn Koslosky, Houston Baptist's midfielder Taylor Gibson and Arielle Rodriguez, South Carolina State's goalie Mariah Hebbe and Utah Valley's forward Regan Benson.

The Wolverines continue conference play this week, visiting Howard on Thursday night before a Saturday matchup with SCSU.

Kellen Hiser is sports information assistant at Utah Valley University. For more information on Wolverine athletics, visit WolverineGreen.com.