Big South Women's Soccer Players of the Week - Aug. 17

Big South Women's Soccer Players of the Week - Aug. 17

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Presbyterian College forward Maddie Smith (Garnet Valley, Pa.) and UNC Asheville midfielder Manuela Schreier (Rotenburg, Germany) have been named the Big South Women's Soccer Co-Offensive Players of the Week, while PC's Sydney Stoner (Chapin, S.C.) is the Defensive Player of the Week for matches played the opening week of the 2026 season, it was announced today.  In addition, Presbyterian forward Katy Verdery (Richmond, Va.) has been selected as the Freshman of the Week.
 
Smith made a strong first impression in a season-opening victory at Alabama State, scoring a brace in her Presbyterian debut to lead the Blue Hose to a 3-1 victory.  She scored in both the 16th and 57th minutes, as she tied the match with her first goal (unassisted) and then put PC ahead for good with her next score.  Smith became the first PC newcomer in its D-I era (since 2007) to score twice in her first match.
 
Schreier helped Asheville to a pair of thrilling draws in the opening week with two goals for four points.  In the 2-2 season-opening draw against Wofford last Wednesday, she scored the Bulldogs' first goal of the year at 48:12 to cut Wofford's lead to 2-1.  In Saturday's 3-3 draw with North Alabama, Schreier tallied the game-tying goal with just three seconds left in the contest. 
 
Stoner played the full 90 minutes in her Presbyterian debut, and was part of the Blue Hose defense that kept Alabama State without a shot over the final 35 minutes and scoreless during the final 85 minutes in the 3-1 road victory.  PC allowed only one shot attempt from the Hornets in the entire second half to remain undefeated in its last three season-openers.
 
Verdery notched her first two points at the collegiate level by scoring a goal in the 75th minute during PC's 3-1 victory at Alabama State -- becoming the first PC freshman since 2017 to score a goal in her debut.  In her 23-minute shift off the bench, Verdery had two shot attempts land on-goal.
 
Also nominated for Offensive Player of the Week: Julia McBride (Gardner-Webb), Brooke Pearson (Radford) and Lindsay Sheets (Winthrop).
 
Also nominated for Defensive Player of the Week: Lexi Radvanyi (Radford).
 
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week: Kylie Williams (Gardner-Webb).