FRISCO, Texas — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Cilia Leal, UTRGV's Abbie Bailey and Northwestern State's Kennedy Rist have won this week's Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week awards, the conference office announced Tuesday. Leal and Bailey are first-time winners this season while Rist claims the honor for the second straight week. 

Offensive Player of the Week: Cilia Leal, A&M-Corpus Christi – So. – F – Plano, Texas (Plano West High School)
Leal led the Islanders with two goals for the first brace of her career in the team's first win of the season against Texas A&M-San Antonio. The first of her goals came just 61 seconds into the matchup with the Jaguars, which marked the fastest goal for any Islanders player since October 21, 2022. Leal also put up five shots and tied for the team lead with four on goal in this contest, moving her totals for the week to eight after the Islanders' draw against Texas Southern. 

Defensive Player of the Week: Abbie Bailey, UTRGV – Gr. – D – Redditch, England (Arrowvale)
Bailey anchored UTRGV's defense in a shutout of Prairie View A&M this past week. The Vaqueros' graduate student played the full 90 minutes, helping UTRGV to allow just one shot throughout the match that ended in the team's first victory of the season. 

Goalkeeper of the Week: Kennedy Rist, Northwestern State – Jr. – GK – Palm Harbor, Fla. (East Lake High School) 
Rist allowed just one goal in two games against a pair of strong offensive teams, stopping seven shots to lift the Demons in their two contests. Her biggest save came on a penalty try against Alcorn in the second half, keeping Northwestern State in front 2-1 and helping them hold on for a win. 
 

Date	Offensive	Defensive	Goalkeeper
Aug. 19	Emily Senatore, NSU	Alexia Murillo, HCU	Kennedy Rist, NSU
Aug. 26	Cilia Leal, AMCC	Abbie Bailey, UTRGV	Kennedy Rist, NSU