Krzeczowski Tabbed SEC Defensive Player of the Week
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s soccer junior Mikayla Krzeczowski has earned the SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor, the league office announced today. The junior goalkeeper helped the Gamecocks defeat No. 11 Tennessee on Sunday and pushed her season record to 7-1-0. The honor is the team’s first SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor since October of 2017.
“Mikayla had an outstanding performance in goal Sunday,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “She showed what an excellent goalkeeper she is. She came up with key saves when needed to keep us in the game. When you are in that position in a competitive game, you need your goalkeeper to come up big and that is what Mikayla consistently does for us. I am happy to see her being recognized after a great shutout to start SEC play.”
The Douglasville, Ga., native dominated in the 2-0 win over the Volunteers. She repeatedly made phenomenal saves and finished with a season-high seven saves to keep Tennessee scoreless for the first time this season.
With 29 clean sheets, Krzeczowski is now tied for second in career shutouts with Gamecocks great Sabrina D’Angelo, who currently plays with the NWSL’s top team, the North Carolina Courage. She is just two off the program record, held by Mollie Patton with 31.
Krzeczowski now has four clean sheets this season, with the Tennessee shutout being the first on the road. The award is the fourth in her career at South Carolina with her last coming in the fourth week of the 2017 season when she shut out Clemson.
No. 15 South Carolina (7-1-0, 1-0-0 SEC) next shift its focus to another tough SEC opponent in Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll, and have just one loss this season. That match will be on Thu., Sept. 20, at 7:00 p.m. in Starkville, Miss.
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Gamecocks Athletics contributed to this article.
