ABILENE – Abilene Christian seniors
Ashley Holton and
Elliott London Wednesday were named Lone Star Conference Offensive Player and Goalkeeper of the Week in recognition of their efforts from last weekend's 2-0 trip to Incarnate Word and Angelo State.
Holton and London are the seventh and eighth Wildcats this season to be presented with the conference's weekly laurel. Holton is a first-time winner, joining two-time honoree
Andrea Carpenter, as ACU's lone offensive recipients, while London previously won the award on Sept. 28. Wildcats
Lexi Stirling,
Lyndsey Womack and
Brie Buschman have all been honored with Defensive Player of the Week citations.
Holton led the Wildcats in scoring last weekend, providing five points on two goals and one assist as the Wildcats edged Incarnate Word (2-0) and Angelo State (2-1 OT) to remain unbeaten at 13-0-1. The forward began the trip with an assist on
Krysta Grimm's insurance goal in the 80th minute vs. the Cardinals, and then against the rival Rambelles, scored the game-tying and winning goals within a span of 27 minutes.
Holton struck first in the 72nd minute to tie the match at 1-1 and then booted the golden goal with 15 seconds left in the first overtime. The multi-goal performance raised her season points total to 13.
After making five saves in the shutout win at Incarnate Word, London tied Allison Egan's varsity game record from Oct. 2007 with an 11-save outing at Angelo State. London's previous high this season had been six.
London's 2-0 weekend lowered her season goals-against average to 0.36 and raised her save and save percentage totals to 42 and .913, respectively. She remains undefeated on the season at 12-0 and has recorded five individual shutouts plus three shared efforts.
No. 2 ACU, which also today was revealed as the No. 1 team in the South Central Region by the NCAA, remains on the road this weekend with matches vs. Texas Woman's and Texas A&M-Commerce. The Wildcats defeated both teams earlier this year by a combined score of 8-3, and against the Pioneers, rallied from an early 2-1 deficit with three unanswered goals in the second half.
A&M-Commerce, the last team to defeat the Wildcats in regulation on Oct. 29 of last year, stands at 7-6-2 on the season but remains in a quagmire with five other teams competing for second place in the Lone Star Conference standings with 17 points and a 5-4-2 record.
The Lions currently trail Midwestern State (6-3-1) by two points, and are only two points ahead of Eastern New Mexico (4-3-3). Angelo State (4-5-2) and West Texas A&M (4-5-1) are also in the mix, with Incarnate Word (2-6-3) and Texas Woman's (1-9-1) situated a bit further behind.
ACU sits atop the standings with 28 points and a 9-0-1 conference record, nine points ahead of the Mustangs. The Wildcats could clinch their first conference regular-season crown this weekend with a victory coupled with a Mustang loss.
Commerce began last week in the midst of an impressive three-match winning streak in which it outscored the opposition, 11-1, but the Zias silenced the Lions Sunday with a 1-0 victory. It was Commerce's first ever loss to Eastern New Mexico.
TWU also lost 1-0 to the Zias in finishing the weekend with a 0-2 record. From there, the Pioneers rallied from a two-goal deficit to force overtime against West Texas A&M but a golden goal in the 102nd minute handed them a 3-2 loss. Senior midfielder Madisen Burrows scored both goals for Texas Woman's.
