INDIANAPOLIS – University of Missouri-St. Louis junior midfielder Laura Hurlbut and University of Wisconsin-Parkside senior defender Karley Mecko have been named the season's first Great Lakes Valley Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week in women’s soccer, it was announced by the league office Monday.
Hurlbut tallied five points on two goals and an assist as UMSL opened the season with two wins. In Friday’s 3-0 season-opening win against Waldorf College, she notched the game-winner and totaled four shots on the day, including two on goal. On Sunday, the Leawood, Kan., native scored first from 30 yards out and then assisted on Sidney Allen’s game-winner in the 3-1 victory over Lindenwood. On the week Hurlbut had three of her five shots on goal. This is the first career weekly award for Hurlbut and the first offensive award for a Triton since Allen was recognized after the first week of the season last year on Sept. 9, 2013.
Mecko helped anchor a defensive backline that posted two shutouts and allowed just one shot on goal all weekend. Against Northwood on Friday, the Rangers limited the Timberwolves to just two total shots with none on goal in UWP’s 3-0 win. Two days later in a 4-0 shutout over Charleston, Mecko and the defense yielded just three shots and only one on target. Mecko additionally made her mark on the offensive end of the field, scoring the eventual game-winner against the Golden Eagles on a corner kick in the eighth minute before adding an insurance goal in the 58th minute. This is the first career weekly award for the Crystal Lake, Ill., native and the second consecutive defensive honor for a Ranger as Mallory Geurts was picked by the league following the last week of the 2013 regular season on Nov. 4.