SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina midfielder Rea Syska and Chattanooga defender Maggie Shaw have been named the Southern Conference women’s soccer offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively, for all games from March 23-29. The players of the week are selected by the league office.
 
Syska played a role in three of Western Carolina’s four goals on the week as the Catamounts fell to Furman, 3-1, on Friday, and downed Wofford 3-1 on Monday. Against Furman, the native of Charlotte, North Carolina, assisted on a Regan Ward goal in the 39^th minute. The goal was just the third of the season scored on the Furman defense. Syska had two assists in the Catamounts’ win over Wofford. Her first assist came on the second Catamount goal of the contest as she crossed the ball in front of the Wofford goal, bouncing it in front of teammate Bella Pighini, who scored. Western Carolina added an insurance goal in the second half as the sophomore took the ball, made a Terrier miss at midfield, and passed to teammate Maggie Lloyd who beat two Wofford defenders en route to a goal.
 
Shaw, a junior from Columbia, South Carolina, anchored a Chattanooga defense that recorded two shutouts and helped the Mocs move in to third place in the SoCon standings with one week to go in the regular season. Chattanooga recorded 1-0 victories over The Citadel and Mercer, allowing opponents to get off just 11 shots, just two of which were on goal.
 
Western Carolina (4-6, 3-4 SoCon) concludes the regular season with road trips to Mercer (7-9-1, 4-3) on April 1 and The Citadel (7-9-2, 1-6) on April 3, while Chattanooga (6-1-1, 5-1-1) concludes the regular season at UNCG (3-4-2, 3-3-1) and at VMI (1-6-2, 0-6-1) on the same dates.
 
Also nominated for offensive player of the week: Miya Poplin (Furman), Maddy Gilhool (UNCG), Alyssa Frazier (Samford), Osa Iyare (Chattanooga) and Dani Segovia (Wofford).    

Also nominated for defensive player of the week: Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper (UNCG) and Morgan McAslan (Samford).  

2020-21 SoCon Women’s Soccer Offensive Players of the Week
Feb. 23       Kendall Cook, Fr., F/MF, Mercer
March 2       Chloe Arnold, Sr., F, Chattanooga
March 9       Isabella Gutierrez, Jr., F, Furman
March 16     Kendra Mueller, R-Fr., F, Chattanooga        
March 23     Nieva Gaither, Fr., F, Furman
March 30     Rea Syska, MF, So., Western Carolina
 
2020-21 SoCon Women’s Soccer Defensive Players of the Week
Feb. 23       Melody Mezzina, So., GK, Western Carolina
March 2      Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper, Sr., GK, UNCG
March 9      Ashton Shields, Jr., GK, Chattanooga
March 16    Morgan McAslan, Jr., GK, Samford
March 23    Addison Corn, Fr., GK, Furman
March 30    Maggie Shaw, Jr., D, Chattanooga