IRVING, Texas – For the second time this season, a UTSA soccer player has received top weekly honors from the American Athletic Conference. Officials from the league office announced on Monday that junior forward/midfielder Jordan Walker has been named AAC Offensive Player of the Week, while freshman goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler was named to the AAC’s Weekly Honor Roll, after the pair played crucial roles in leading the Roadrunners to a 1-0-1 week in conference play.
Walker (Burleson, Texas) scored in games at UAB and Temple this week to move into a tie for the UTSA goal-scoring lead. This week’s results helped the Roadrunners move up the league standings by adding four team points to their pot. During Thursday’s draw in Birmingham, Walker scored the game-tying goal on a 64th-minute header over the Blazers’ keeper, netting the program’s historic first AAC goal. In Philadelphia on Sunday, Walker put away the game-winner, drawing the keeper to the right and pulling her shot to the upper left corner in the eighth minute, setting up a 2-0 AAC victory for the Roadrunners. This marks the first AAC honor of her career.
Kessler (Spring, Texas) made her eighth and ninth consecutive starts in goal for the Roadrunners and kept the opposition under wraps with just one score allowed in 180 minutes. At UAB, Kessler registered three saves and snuffed out several other UAB opportunities. Hustling all over at Temple, Kessler executed numerous free kicks and rose to the occasion with a career-high six saves – bringing her weekly total to nine. In addition, Kessler also dropped a free kick in perfect position to set up classmate Michelle Polo’s 84th-minute career-first goal. On the week, Kessler recorded a .900 save percentage and dropped her season goals-against-average to 0.78. This is also the first conference recognition of her career.
UTSA will next take the field back home at Park West on Thursday with Florida Atlantic coming to town for a Senior Day matchup. Back on friendly ground, the Roadrunners are 4-2 at home this season and 16-4-4 (.750) across the past three seasons. UTSA will close off the week hosting South Florida for the annual Pink Out for breast cancer awareness. FAU tied with North Texas in their own Senior Day game on Sunday, coming to San Antonio at 6-5-4 (2-2-2 AAC).
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