Seattle University women’s soccer senior midfielder Julia Besagno (Maple Valley, Wash.) has been named the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 21-27. This is the ninth WAC honor for the Redhawks this season and the sixth straight week in which Seattle U has received at least one honoree. This is Besagno’s first career WAC Player of the Week honor.
"Julia continues to be such a steadfast player for our team," said head coach Julie Woodward. "She is a true leader and continues to step up when we most need her. The qualities she brings to this team both on and off the field are very special. She has had an amazing career and an exceptional senior season thus far and she is a very special player."
Besagno scored three goals in the team’s wins at New Mexico State, 2-1, on Oct. 25 and Kansas City, 3-0, on Oct. 27. She scored the go-ahead goal in the double overtime win at NMSU on a penalty kick, scoring two more goals, including the game-winner, at Kansas City. The goals at Kansas City were her first two non-PK goals of the season, including her first game-winning goal of the season, and marked her first career two-goal match. Over the weekend, she tallied four shots, three on goal, recording three goals and six points.
To date this season, Besagno has recorded six goals, 12 points, and 19 shots, with nine on goal. She has also scored one game-winning goal and is 4-4 in penalty kick attempts. Besagno continues to prove her versatility as she was named WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year prior to the start of the season.
Besagno was also named WAC Player of the Week by College Sports Madness.
Utah Valley’s Lauren Sack was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week, recording her 11th career shutout in the team’s 3-0 victory against Grand Canyon.
With just one weekend of conference play remaining, Seattle U (13-2-2, 10-0-0 WAC) has clinched the WAC regular season title. The Redhawks are on an 11-game winning streak during which they have allowed just three goals dating back to Sept. 20. Recently recording a seven-game shutout streak, the Redhawks scored 25 consecutive unanswered goals.
The Redhawks host Idaho on Friday, Nov. 1 at 3 p.m. PT as they honor the 2013 senior class in their final home game in SU uniform before traveling to face Idaho in Moscow on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. PT. Seattle U will compete for the WAC Tournament title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 8 and 10 in Las Cruces, N.M. Links to live stats and video for this weekend are on the women’s soccer schedule page at GoSeattleU.com.
The nominees for each position are as follows:
Other Offensive Nominees: Taylor Layton (Grand Canyon), Layla Todd (New Mexico State), Natalie Baker (Utah Valley)
Other Defensive Nominees: Jessica Valadez (Grand Canyon), Daisy Hernandez (New Mexico State), Monique Escalera (Seattle U)