Five players earn Big 12 weekly awards after opening slate of conference games

For their performances during the opening week of conference play of the 2023 Big 12 soccer season, TCU’s Gracie Brian (offensive), Texas’ Lauren Lapomarda (defensive) and Mia Justus (co-goalkeeper), Oklahoma State’s Laudan Wilson (freshman) and Texas Tech’s Madison White (co-goalkeeper) earned weekly accolades.

Brian scored two goals and registered an assist throughout the week during TCU’s contests against BYU and Stephen F. Austin. Facing then-No. 1 BYU on the road in the conference opener, she netted the first goal of the 3-3 draw within the first two minutes of play before dishing out an assist in the 61^st minute. Brian then recorded her 30^th career goal in TCU’s 3-1 win over Stephen F. Austin. The goal marked her as the third Horned Frog to reach the milestone.

Lapomarda earns her first career weekly award after helping Texas register its seventh shutout of the season with a 4-0 win over Baylor. The Bears were held to seven total shots with three landing on target. The senior was very active in preventing any offensive attacks from Baylor on the right side of the field, which kept the Bears scoreless after both teams were tied 0-0 at the half.

Justus recorded three saves in Texas’ win over Baylor to extend her shutout streak to four matches. In her first season in net for the Longhorns, her streak ties the program record for consecutive clean sheets. She additionally holds the program record for the longest span of time without allowing a goal (585:59). Justus leads the Conference in shutouts with six.

White shut down a Houston team that has scored the Conference’s third-most 28 goals this season. In Texas Tech’s 3-0 win over UH, she tallied three saves. The Rockwall, Texas native has recorded five shutouts, extending her TTU program record with 31 career shutouts, which ranks fifth on the NCAA active career list. Earning her eighth career weekly Big 12 award, she leads the league this season with a 0.44 goals against average and has only allowed four goals.

Wilson tied for the most points posted by a Big 12 soccer student-athlete last week, tallying five points between two contests. In the Cowgirls’ conference opening 4-1 win over Iowa State, the freshman registered three assists. Her assists tied a program single-game record and was the first time a Cowgirl has posted that many assists since 2011. She ended the week scoring a goal in OSU’s 2-0 win over Abilene Christian. This is Wilson’s first career weekly award and she is the first Cowgirl to earn Freshman of the Week since the 2021 campaign.

A list of this season’s weekly award winners can be found here.

Offensive Player of the Week
Gracie Brian, TCU, MF, Gr.

Defensive Player of the Week
Lauren Lapomarda, Texas, D, Sr.

Goalkeeper of the Week
Mia Justus, Texas, Jr.
Madison White, Texas Tech, Gr.

Freshman of the Week
Laudan Wilson, Oklahoma State, MF