FRISCO, Texas – Texas A&M-Commerce’s Sophia Dean and Kaydence Ramirez, and UIW’s Ellie-Mai Sanford are the winners of this week’s Jersey Mike’s Southland Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week awards, as announced by the conference office Tuesday.

Goalkeeper of the Week: Sophia Dean, Texas A&M-Commerce – Fr. – Spring, TX. (Grand Oaks High School)
Dean kept a clean sheet on Thursday’s 2-0 victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, including making three saves. Then, on Sunday, Dean made a whopping 8 saves in the Lions’ tough loss to UNT. The true freshman played all 180 minutes across those two games, and is currently ranked third in the SLC in goals against average and total saves.

Defensive Player of the Week: Ellie-Mai Sanford, UIW – Sr. – Pontypool, Wales. (St. Albans RC High School)
Sanford helped UIW improve to 3-0 this season, with another shutout victory, this time over UTRGV. Sanford played 86 of the 90 minutes against the Vaqueros, helping slam the door shut The unbeaten three game winning-streak is the Cardinals’ best start to a season since 2013. With Sanford anchoring their defense, UIW are yet to concede a goal this season.
Honorable Mention: Marina Vera, Texas A&M-Commerce

Offensive Player of the Week: Kaydence Ramirez, Texas A&M-Commerce – Rs. Fr. – Waxahachie, TX. (Waxahachie High School)
Ramirez scored the game-winning goal against Tulsa on Thursday night. She peppered the target across two games this weekend, taking three shots against the Golden Hurricane, and another two against the North Texas Mean Green on Sunday. She is second on the SLC shots per match leaderboard, averaging 2.5 per game played.
Honorable Mention: Kaile Kukaua, McNeese

2023 Southland Women’s Soccer Players of the Week

Date	Goalkeeper	Defensive	Offensive
Aug. 22 Aug. 29	Makenzie Hall, UIW Sophia Dean, Texas A&M-Commerce	Eve Clarkson, UIW Ellie-Mai Sanford, UIW	Kelsey Fuller, Southeastern Kaydence Ramirez, Texas A&M-Commerce

Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.

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