Women's Soccer | 08/27/24 | 12:07 PM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced its weekly Women's Soccer individual awards. Maria Ackerman of Carroll has been named the NAIA Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week. Ackerman was selected based on her performance from August 5-25 and was chosen out of a pool of conference/Continental Athletic Conference (Independents)/unaffiliated group nominees.
The first official week of competition for the Fighting Saints ends with a bang, as Goalkeeper Maria Ackerman earned NAIA National Player of the Week honors.
Ackerman, along with teammate Delaney Moczan (Las Vegas, Nev. / SO), was named Cascade Collegiate Conference Player of the Week on Monday.
On Tuesday, her individual accolades continued as she became the Carroll Women's Soccer program's first ever NAIA National Player of the Week, either Offensively or Defensively.
The 2023 First Team All-CCC Goalkeeper made an instant impact as a freshman, and through three games in her sophomore campaign she appears poised for another outstanding season.
"We're beyond excited for both Maria and our team to be recognized at the national level." said Head Coach David Thorvilson "Traveling and facing teams that are brand new to us is always difficult, and playing back-to-back games on the road against teams like Taylor (Ind.) and Indiana Tech only add to the difficulty. Maria was outstanding in goal all week, making big saves when we needed them."
NAIA Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Maria Ackerman, Carroll - SO - Goalkeeper - Billings, Mont.
- Over a three-game span to open the 2024 season, Ackerman tallied 22 total saves at a clip of 91.7%.
- Allowing only two goals over that same stretch, she has a .67 goals-against average.
- Ackerman recorded her first shutout victory of the year against the University of Lethbridge of Canada.
The Carroll Women will have a week away from competition before heading to Billings next week for a pair of matches against NCAA Division II opponents Black Hills State (S.D.) and MSU Billings.
Visit www.carrollathletics.com to continue to stay up to date on everything going on in Carroll Athletics.
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