Oct. 15, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - By outscoring its opponents 9-0 last weekend, the UCF women's soccer team swept the Conference USA Player of the Week awards the league office announced Monday. Junior Danielle Dos Santos (Campinas, Brazil) was tabbed with the offensive accolade, while senior Jennifer Manis (Pensacola, Fla.) earned the defensive honor.
Both players were key contributors in UCF moving its record to 9-2-2 on the year and 4-0-0 in C-USA, as the Knights blanked Tulsa, 4-0, and SMU, 5-0, on the road. Their weekly awards bring UCF's season total to seven, while four different Knights have been named the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week in each of the last four weeks. The only other conference program to have more than one weekly accolade this year is UTEP which has two.
Dos Santos had demonstrated great ball-handling skills all year long, and came into the weekend with one assist for one point in 2007. She eventually left with 10 points. To kick off the road trip, dos Santos picked up a helper on UCF's fourth goal at Tulsa Oct. 12. She then had one of the best matches in Knight history at SMU Oct. 14. In the 5-0 victory, dos Santos was involved on every goal, registering the 33rd hat trick at UCF and adding two assists for eight points. She fell just one point shy of tying the C-USA record, and only two points from matching the UCF mark for points in a match.
Dos Santos came off the bench in both matches en route to posting nine weekend points. Her hat trick was the first by a UCF student-athlete in over five years.
While UCF's offense cranked out nine goals, Manis worked hard at keeping her shutout streak alive. She made eight saves in the win at Tulsa, then turned aside five shots at SMU, including four in the first half. Manis now has 67 saves on the year, which rank 10th in UCF single-season history. Meanwhile, she has helped UCF start league play with four-consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1999. Manis completed her road trip by stretching her shutout string to 415:20.
For dos Santos, it was her first career C-USA weekly honor, while it was the third for Manis.
UCF returns home this weekend where it owns a 5-0-2 record. It will bring a five-game winning streak and a seven-game undefeated streak (5-0-2) into the action when it hosts UTEP Friday at 7 p.m. and Colorado College (C-USA affiliated member in women's soccer) Sunday at noon. Admission to both matches is free.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
UCF's 2007 Conference USA Weekly Award Winners
Yvonne George - Sept. 10 - Offensive
Kelsey Kravec - Sept. 10 - Defensive
Courtney Whidden - Sept. 24 - Offensive
Brianna Schooley - Oct. 1 - Offensive
Yvonne George - Oct. 8 - Offensive
Danielle Dos Santos - Oct. 15 - Offensive
Jennifer Manis - Oct. 15 - Defensive