Stroup, Bennett Garner POTW Awards (9/12/06)

BILLINGS, MT –  For the fourth week in a row, the Montana State-Billings women’s soccer program has earned Heartland Conference Player of the Week honors.  The Jackets’ Ally Stroup and Abby Bennett were named offensive and defensive players of the week for the week of September 4-10.  This award marks the second for Stroup and first for Bennett this season.

Ally Stroup, a senior midfielder from Ojai, California, was named offensive player of the week, an award she also won the week of August 21-27.  As team captain, Stroup led the Yellowjackets to two shutout road wins against St. Mary’s University and Texas A&M – International September 9 and 10.  The two wins gave the Lady Jackets the best seven-game start in school history (7-0-0).  In the game against St. Mary’s, the Jackets won 1-0 in the second overtime as Stroup picked up the assist on a pass made from the outside to teammate Melissa Carlson who scored the game-winning goal.  The assist raised Stroup to the top of the record books for consecutive games with at least one point scored with six.  In addition, Stroup scored two goals and an assist in the 3-0 win over Texas A&M – International.  The first goal scored by Stroup in that game gave her sole possession of the No. 1 spot with 32 career goals, breaking a record that has stood since 2001.  Stroup added an assist and one more goal bringing her to nine goals on the season and 33 overall.  In addition to her numerous accomplishments in soccer, Stroup is a well-spoken young lady that leads her team both on and off the field.

Abby Bennett, a junior defender from Livingston, Montana, shares the defensive player of the week award with Dallas Baptist’s Mandy Gomez.  Bennett is a strong force in the Jackets’ back line assisting her team to a 2-0 record on the road against St. Mary’s University and Texas A&M – International over the weekend.  The Jackets held STMU and TAMUI to just seven shots on goal winning 1-0 in double overtime against the Rattlers and 3-0 against the Dustdevils.  For the weekend, the Yellowjackets’ defense allowed their opponents just 12 shots total to the 28 put up by the Jackets.  The defense has compiled a school record 409:00 consecutive shutout minutes following the two wins.  On the season, the Yellowjackets have six shutouts in seven wins and have had only one goal scored against them for a 0.14 goals against average.

The Yellowjackets play their final game of the three-game sweep through Texas on the road September 12 against University of Incarnate Word (3-2-1) before returning home to host the Fourth Annual Futbol Frenzy sponsored by RBC Dain Rauscher.  The game is September 16 at 4:00 p.m.