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Ward and Cruz sweep Player of the Week honors following 5-1 win at Evangel
Posted: Oct 17, 2022

Ward and Cruz sweep Player of the Week honors following 5-1 win at Evangel

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the third time this season, the Clarke University women's soccer team earned a Heart of America Athletic Conference Player of the Week award but for the first time this season the team earned both the offensive and defensive honor.

Senior forward Genevieve Cruz received her second Heart Offensive Player of the Week honor in three weeks and junior defender Hope Ward earned the Defensive Player of the Week honor following the Pride's 5-1 win at Evangel this past Saturday.

Cruz scored a pair of goals for CU including the game winner in the 18th minute to make the game at the time a 2-1 score. She also scored the game's final goal to push the lead to 5-1 in the 66th minute as the only goal scored in the second half of the game.

The Racine, Wis. native has been and remains the team's leader in goals scored with nine, the team's leader in total points with 23, and has three game-winning goals after scoring Saturday's game winning tally as she's played and started in all but one game this season.

Ward received the Defensive Player of the Week nod after scoring Saturday's game-tying goal early on in the 8th minute as she scored from quite a distance away to make it a 1-1 score early on after the Valor scored in the 6th minute to lead 1-0 as Evangel only fired a total of five shots in the entire game with only the goal being the only shot on frame.

The Burlington, Iowa native has been a consistent presence in the defensive back line for Clarke as she has played and started in all 15 of the team's games this season while providing some offensive firepower with two goals and two assists as the two goals have now been credited as a game-winning goal and now a game-tying goal.

Clarke women's soccer will play their final home game this Saturday when they host Baker University at Burrows Field for a 1:00 p.m. scheduled kickoff as the team's senior class will be honored following the women's game and before the men's game that will follow.