Missouri State sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Teahan was named Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week by the league office today for the Bears’ women’s soccer team, and Missouri State men’s soccer goalkeeper Alex Riggs was named Defensive Player of the Week by the Missouri Valley Conference.
The award is the second this season for Riggs, who was named MVC Player of the Week on September 21. The honor was Teahan’s second of the season after winning the award on September 21 as well.
Riggs recorded back-to-back shutouts against Creighton and Bradley last week. He made two saves to preserve the shutout of Creighton on Wednesday and followed that up with a season-high nine saves to shut out Bradley on the road Saturday.
Riggs has six shutouts on the season to lead the conference and tie his total from last year. His 12 career shutouts are fourth all-time in Missouri State history. He also owns a 0.70 goals against average, second best among Valley starters, ranks 29th in the country. Riggs and the men’s soccer team will host Oral Roberts at Plaster Field for the final non-conference match of the season on Wednesday. The Bears and Golden Eagles kickoff at 4:00 p.m.
Teahan made a spectacular save on a penalty kick attempt by Kasey Kutzler to preserve a 1-1 tie in the 47th minute of play. She followed that up with another diving save on Kutzler off the penalty kick save. The back-to-back saves by Teahan swayed the momentum in Missouri State’s favor and the Bears controlled play from that point on en route to a 3-1 win at Evansville. Teahan made a total of four saves in the win.
On the season, Teahan has a 0.97 goals against average, the second-lowest in conference. Teahan has also recorded five shutouts, second-most in the Valley. Teahan and the women’s soccer team will host Drake on Sunday, October 18 for Senior Day and a 1:00 p.m. kickoff at Plaster Field.
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