Colorado State forward Ally Murphy-Pauletto was voted the NCAA Women’s Soccer Player of the Week on Wednesday afternoon.
(CSU Athletics)
The Boulder native received 36 percent of the 1,747 fan votes, coming in ahead of Seattle University’s Leahi Manthei, Western Carolina’s Natalia Icen and Kennesaw State’s Tiffany Sornpao. The vote was held on NCAA Soccer’s Twitter account (@NCAASoccer).
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Murphy-Pauletto was already named Mountain West Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. She is now the first player in CSU history to receive either award.
Murphy-Pauletto’s award winning week was capitalized by her three-goal, six-shot performance in last Friday’s 5-1 win over New Mexico State. The freshman became the first CSU soccer player to record a hat trick and the fastest Ram to score three career goals in the program’s five-year history.
In the 37th minute of last Friday’s game against New Mexico State, Murphy-Pauletto scored her first career collegiate goal on a shot assisted by her roommate, midfielder Karli Eheart. Murphy-Pauletto scored again in the 57th minute and capped off the hat trick in the 89th minute on a goal assisted by freshman Alyssa Yoshida.
Although the freshman forward finished on each tally, the hat trick wouldn’t have been possible without the help of her teammates.
“I couldn’t have done it without assists from Alyssa Yoshida and Karli Eheart,” Murphy-Pauletto said. “They were a big piece of that (hat trick).”
Murphy-Pauletto concluded her big week with two shots in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to New Hampshire. She now leads all Rams in goals with three, shots on goal with six and is tied for the team lead in total shots with nine.
The next time Murphy-Pauletto and the Rams take the field will be on the road against SIU Edwardsville at 6 p.m. on Friday. CSU will then host North Dakota State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Collegian sports reporter Christian Hedrick can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @ChristianHCSU.
