San Diego State University senior Britney Bennett has earned honors as the Mountain West Conference women’s soccer Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced Monday.
The weekly award is the San Diego native’s first of her career.
A defender out of Otay Ranch High School, Bennett helped extend SDSU’s home unbeaten streak to 11 matches with her game-winning goal against San Jose State last Friday. The senior was also a part of a defensive unit that held the Spartans scoreless in the final 52:48, which gave Bennett the opportunity to score the go-ahead goal.
With the score tied at 1-1 midway through the second half, San Diego State earned a corner kick, which senior Michaela DeJesus sent over to the far right post. Finding herself all alone and no one within a couple yards of her, Bennett trapped the ball and calmly tucked her shot into the lower right-hand corner of the net from five yards out. The tally gave the Aztecs the cushion they needed to win the match.
The goal was Bennett’s first of her career and the two points matches her career high for a season established in 2008.
In Sunday’s contest against defending national champion and top-ranked North Carolina, Bennett helped SDSU neutralize a potent Tar Heel attack. The 20-time NCAA and 21-time overall national champions entered the weekend averaging 22.8 shots and 4.2 goals per game. But as a result of Bennett and the Aztec defense, they held UNC to just seven shots, including three on net, and only one goal.
The one goal, meanwhile, was tied for the fewest goals scored in a single game for the nation’s No. 1 team this year and the seven attempts were the Tar Heels’ fewest since Oct. 14, 2007, when they had 10 against Wake Forest. In the end, SDSU came up just short in a 1-0 home loss.
The Aztecs return to action on Friday when they oppose Oregon at the Oregon State Nike Invitational. Kick-off is slated for 4:30 p.m. in Corvallis, Ore.
