SPARTANBURG, SC - UNC Greensboro freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Kearney has been named the Southern Conference Player of the Week, as announced by the conference office this afternoon.
Kearney, who started both games in California over this past weekend for the Spartans, leads all UNCG keepers with a goals against average of 0.86. She has appeared in four games in her first season with the Spartans, earning the starting nod three times, including against third-ranked Stanford and 15th- ranked Santa Clara at the Stanford/Nike Invitational over the weekend.
The freshman entered the weekend having started just once for the Spartans. She turned away five shots from Santa Clara, helping to preserve the win for UNCG, giving the Spartans their best result over a ranked opponent since they tied Wake Forest 1-1 in double over-time a year ago.
Against Stanford, Kearney shined, making 10 saves. After giving up two first-half goals, Kearney returned to the goal to make eight saves in the second half to keep The Cardinal off the board. Before hosting their tournament, Stanford was averaging over three goals per game, but were limited to just two thanks to the play of Kearney on Sunday.
To date, Kearney has registered a total of 16 saves and given up just three goals. She holds the only shutout for the Spartans and stands with a 2-1-0 record with a save percentage of .842.
The Spartans, who currently stand at 5-3-0 on the year, will travel to Winston Salem on Friday evening to take on Wake Forest. Match time is set for 7:00 pm ET. Fans wishing to follow the action can find live stats via the UNCG athletics website at www.uncgspartans.com.
- UNCG -