Oct. 4, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Two South Carolina women’s soccer players picked up honors Monday as senior forward Brooke Jacobs was named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week and sophomore defender Christine Watts was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week.
The national honor for Jacobs comes after her career weekend for South Carolina in wins against Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Jacobs more than doubled her season total with eight points over two games, including a school-record seven-point game against Mississippi State. Jacobs hit a hat trick with three goals in 14 minutes against the Bulldogs to become just the fifth player at South Carolina to record a hat trick and the first to record a hat trick against an SEC opponent. Jacobs also tallied an assist on the game-winning goal in that game against the Bulldogs. She opened the weekend with an assist in the 3-0 win against Ole Miss to give her a total of three goals and two assists for eight points on the week. She leads the SEC in points and goals scored in conference play.
Watts picks up her first SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor following a weekend that saw her lead a stellar South Carolina defensive effort in addition to contributing four points for the Gamecocks. Watts started both games at right back and was instrumental in holding Ole Miss and Mississippi State to a combined seven total shots and an astounding one shot on goal in 180 minutes of play. Watts then scored the game-winning goal in the 7-0 victory against Mississippi State, her first goal of the year. She added two first half assists to put the game out of reach and now leads the conference in assists in SEC matches. South Carolina was the only SEC team to record two shutouts on the weekend and kept the ball in the attacking half of the field with an 11-1 edge in corner kicks. Through four SEC games, South Carolina has allowed only six shots on goal in 380 minutes of play.
South Carolina travels to the state of Alabama this weekend with SEC road matches against the Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide.
