A USL News Release

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Notre Dame’s Nikki Weiss had a standout summer for the USL W-League’s Washington Freedom Futures, but her form to start the NCAA regular season is already drawing awards from the Big East Conference.

Weiss was named the Big East Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time this season on Monday, leading a group of players with W-League experience to be honored around the country.

Weiss has yet to concede a goal in four regular season contests for the No.3-ranked Irish and was critical in their 1-0 victory against No.8 Santa Clara. Weiss made a career-high seven saves and was named the tournament MVP of the Inn at St. Mary’s Classic.

Also honored this week was Jennifer Shufelt, who played this summer for the Rochester Ravens. Shufelt, a junior forward at the University of Connecticut, was named the Big East offensive player of the year after scoring four goals in two games, including overtime winners in both of the Huskies’ victories against Illinois and No.16 Penn State.

Auburn’s Katy Frierson and Georgia’s Nicole Locandro, who both played this summer for the Atlanta Silverbacks side that reached the W-League finals, were honored by the Southeastern Conference. Frierson scored the game-winner for the Tigers in their overtime victory against No.5 Florida State, and added another goal in a 3-0 win against Western Kentucky to be named Offensive Player of the Week, while Locandro was named Freshman of the Week after scoring three goals and adding an assist in a pair of wins this weekend.

Out west, California’s Alex Morgan, who played for the Pali Blues this summer, earned the second Pac-10 Player of the Week honor of her career after scoring five goals in two games for the Golden Bears. The U.S. Under-23 international scored twice in a 4-1 victory against Rice and then added a hat trick against Hawaii as the No.19-ranked Golden Bears earned a pair of victories in the Cal Invitational.