ST. LOUIS - Three Illinois State soccer players were honored by the Missouri Valley Conference this week for their efforts in ISU's 3-1 win over No. 10 Milwaukee. Senior Natalie McCabe and junior Kristin Cooley were named Co-Defensive Players of the Week, while freshman Rachel Tejada garnered Newcomer of the Week accolades.
Cooley and McCabe earned their first-career player of the week selections by holding the Panthers to just six shots on goal and holding Sarah Hagen, one of the nation's best goal scorers, to just four shots. The defensive duo had the task of marking Hagen, who entered the game as the nation's leader in points per game and goals per game. On the season, Cooley and McCabe have led the Redbird defense to four shutouts and a 1.17 goals against average.
Tejada scored her fifth goal in her last four games by netting the game-winner for Illinois State in the historic victory over Milwaukee. The freshman forward drove a shot into the back of the net in the 62nd minute to put the Redbirds in front, 2-1. She continued her climb up the ISU single-season record list by raising her season totals to 17 goals and 39 points. Tejada now ranks second on the single-season lists and needs just three more goals and two more points to tie ISU Hall of Fame inductee Annie Wayland atop both categories.
Illinois State will return to the pitch when it wraps up the regular-season against MVC rival Creighton Thursday afternoon at Adelaide Street Field. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m.
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