BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University women’s soccer players Gabriela Pelogi (offensive) and Annaliese Laurila (defensive) have swept the first Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week awards, announced Tuesday by the conference office.
Pelogi (Federal Way, WA) helped lead the Vikings to a 2-0 record during the opening week of the season with four goals and two assists for 10 points. The junior forward had a goal and an assist in the season-opening 3-1 victory over Notre Dame de Namur and then followed with a hat trick in a 7-1 win at Holy Names. She also had an assist against Holy Names, finishing with seven points. The three-goal game was the fifth by a WWU player during the GNAC era (since 2001), and first since Elise Aylward in 2015.
Laurila (So., Portland, OR/Grant) helped anchor the defense from the center back position playing 159 of 180 minutes in the two games last week. The Vikings surrendered just two goals and six total shots on goal in the two games.
The player of the week honor is the third for Pelogi in her career, and the first for Laurila.
The Vikings (2-0-0) return to action this week with a midweek non-conference game vs. Cal State Los Angeles on Wednesday at 11 am in Burnaby, B.C. The neutral-site game will be played on the campus of Simon Fraser University (Terry Fox Field) and can be followed via Live Stats at WWUVikings.com/Live.
WWU is the defending NCAA Division II National Champions and ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches DII poll. The Vikings take a 26-game winning streak and 27-game undefeated streak into this week’s action.