Nealon, Logan earn national soccer honors

Logan
Logan

From JBU Sports Information

Sophomores Sienna Nealon and Caitlyn Logan have been named the NAIA National Women's Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, the national office announced Tuesday, Sept. 11.

The two Golden Eagles were nominated for their performances during the week of Sept. 3--9, 2018, and were selected out of a pool of conference and Association of Independent Institutions award winners.

"This is quite an honor, not only for Sienna and Caitlyn, but for our team," head coach Kathleen Paulsen admitted. "Their individual efforts helped create game-changing moments throughout both matches that led to big wins on the road. I am proud of Sienna and Caitlyn - and our team - for a strong week of play."

The pair of honors marks the first time in program history that two Golden Eagles have swept the national weekly awards.

While this is Logan's first National Defensive Player of the Week honors, Nealon returns for the Offensive Player of the Week accolades for the second time in her career, winning it on the exact same week she did in 2017.

Both were also selected as Sooner Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week this past Monday.

The awards came after a week that saw JBU upset No. 12 Mobile (Ala.) and No. 2 William Carey (Miss.), powering the team out to a quick 5-1 record to start the season.

The pair of Top 25 victories came in dramatic fashion as John Brown came back to defeat Mobile, 3-2, with just 12 seconds left in the contest. Just 45 hours later, an overtime tally helped the Golden Eagles record its biggest upset in program history, knocking off William Carey, 2-1.

Nealon, in fact, scored both of those game-winners, landing her a second-career SAC weekly honor. Last season, in the exact same week, Nealon was named conference and national Player of the Week. This time around, the Windsor, Calif., native netted her second and third goals and game-clinchers of the season - marking all three tallies of the season have stood as the game-winning variety. In fact, Nealon now has 12 career goals, seven of which have been game-winners, in just 20 games played.

She also added a pair of helpers against the Rams, leading JBU to its first wins ever against Mobile and William Carey.

Logan, meanwhile, earns her second Player of the Week honors of the season and third of her career after John Brown's incredible weekend.

The Charlotte, N.C., native posted a career-best effort against William Carey, racking up seven saves in the overtime victory. Playing in all 182 minutes on the week, Logan gave up just 1.5 goals and totaled 10 saves, boasting a 1.00 goals-against average in 2018 and a .793 saver percentage. Logan also has a trio of clean sheets.

Sports on 09/16/2018