Big South Announces Women's Soccer Players of the Week - Sept. 28

Big South Announces Women's Soccer Players of the Week - Sept. 28

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Gardner-Webb forward Julia McBride (Edmond, Okla.) has been named the Big South Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, while USC Upstate’s Cansu Kara (Kocaeli, Turkey) is the Defensive Player of the Week for matches played Sept. 21-27, it was announced today. In addition, UNC Asheville goalkeeper London Phoenix (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has been selected as the Freshman of the Week.
 
McBride scored a goal in each of Gardner-Webb’s conference matches, helping the Runnin’ Bulldogs earn road wins at Presbyterian and Charleston Southern. Against the Blue Hose, her goal came in the final 10 minutes and proved to be the game-winner. She then converted a penalty kick against Charleston Southern to help Gardner-Webb overcome an early deficit. McBride put three of her four shots on target while playing 105 minutes on the week.
 
Kara totaled four points and helped anchor a USC Upstate defense that allowed just one goal across back-to-back league victories over Charleston Southern and Longwood. The sophomore played all 180 minutes while contributing one goal along with an assist in each match. Her first goal of the season came in the 25th minute against Longwood, while she also helped the Spartans limit the Lancers to just four shots and one shot on goal in a 2-0 shutout. Upstate conceded just one goal across the two matches, which came on a penalty kick against Charleston Southern.
 
Phoenix recorded her third clean sheet of the season with five saves in UNC Asheville’s 1-0 win over High Point. The victory marked the Bulldogs’ first over the Panthers since 2017, while Asheville improved to 2-0-0 in conference play for the first time since 2008. Phoenix made four saves in the first half after Asheville took an early lead in the 10th minute, then added her lone second-half save with seven minutes remaining to preserve the 1-0 advantage. She played all 90 minutes in goal, facing eight shots in total.
 
Also nominated for Offensive Player of the Week: Katie Purnell (Radford), Alexandra Gib (UNC Asheville) and Lily MacCausland (USC Upstate).
 
Also nominated for Defensive Player of the Week: Noor Reslan (Gardner-Webb), Lexi Radvanyi (Radford) and Campbell Stoll (UNC Asheville). 
 
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week: Ezrah Rubabaza (Radford) and Jasmyn Mitchner (USC Upstate).