Women's Soccer: Banks Scores BIG EAST Honor
October 22, 2007 05:15 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
October 22, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University women’s soccer player Ashley Banks was named BIG EAST offensive player of the week league officials announced today.
Banks, a senior forward from Annandale, Va., recorded the ninth hat trick in school history to lead the Mountaineers to a 5-3 comeback win at Georgetown’s North Kehoe Field on Friday, Oct. 19. The Hoyas took a 3-1 lead in the match’s 59th minute, before WVU rattled off four unanswered goals in the final 16 minutes to seal its 10th win of the season.
Banks’ second goal of the match put the Mountaineers up 4-3 with six minutes remaining in the contest. Banks’ hat trick is the first since 2006 when teammate Deana Everrett scored three goals against DePaul on Oct. 1, 2006. The hat trick is also the second of Banks’ career, adding to her three-goal effort against Ohio on Aug. 29, 2004.
On Sunday, Oct. 21, Banks issued the assist on the game-winning goal from teammate Kim Bonilla in a 1-0 win at Villanova. For the week, Banks totaled eight points on three goals and two assists. She has scored at least one point in 10 of 16 games this season and her 11 goals and 30 points lead the team (eight assists are good for second-most).
The weekly conference honor is the fifth of the season for WVU and second of Banks’ career. She also earned offensive player of the week recognition on Oct. 10, 2005.
Other BIG EAST award winners were Rutgers’ Meghan Ryan (defensive player of the week), Cincinnati’s Andrea Kaminski (goalkeeper of the week) and Georgetown’s Ingrid Wells (rookie of the week).
