ROCK HILL, S.C. - Anderson University sophomore midfielder Allie Waters has been named the South Atlantic Conference's women's soccer Player of the Week, as announced by the conference office Tuesday afternoon.
The Piedmont, S.C., native scored three goals, including converting a penalty kick into her first golden goal of the season to lift the upstart Trojans to an overtime win past Tusculum, the seventh-ranked team in the Southeast Region a week ago. AU posted a perfect 2-0 record on the week, with a road shutout win past Brevard and the home victory over the Pioneers that lifted the Trojans into third place in the league standings.
"We've had a good bit of fortune recently as we've gotten to know each other, the new style of play and the standards that are set," said Anderson head coach Samar Azem. "This recognition for Allie is tremendous. She's the type of player that doesn't typically get recognized for the work she does in the center and has embraced big moments like the penalty kick against Tusculum. She handled it calmly and slotted the ball in the back of the net very well. That's the type of player she is -she comes up in big moments when we need her. The best thing about it is behind her are a number of individuals who have really stepped up their game, winning aerial battles, playing with composure and making runs off the ball."
Waters notched a pair of goals versus the Tornados, boosting the Trojans' lead to 2-0 at the 27:47 mark by lifting a shot that cleared Brevard goalkeeper Brittany Webster, then notched her second score of the contest, and fourth of the season, less than two minutes later when she took a pass and her shot from 20 yards out settled in the left corner of the net, giving AU a three-goal cushion. Her game-winning score in the 108th minute against TC gave Anderson its fifth consecutive SAC win.
Waters posted five shots on the week, with four on-goal (.800) and converted three into scores. On the season she is second in the team with five goals.
"At the end of the day regardless of how many goals Allie put away, we wouldn't be able to honor her with this distinction if every individual hadn't put in the work they'd put in to get us the wins. Kaitlyn Neipp has done an outstanding job in the goal. Our back line is showing a lot more organization and we're just putting things together very well. "I'm happy for Allie and I'm very happy for the rest of the team. We always tell our girls, we succeed as a family and fail as a family, and Allie's recognition is definitely indicative of this."
