WASHINGTON – Saint Louis junior forward
Hope Kim and sophomore goalkeeper
Pepper Escher are the Atlantic 10 Conference women's soccer Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, for Oct. 19-25, the league office announced Monday.
It is the second such honor of the season for both players, whose performances helped lead SLU to road wins over La Salle (2-1) and Duquesne (2-0) last week. The latter victory clinched the A10 regular-season championship for the Billikens, who now have claimed eight regular-season titles as an A10 member (seven in the past nine years) and 10 total (including two in Conference USA).
Kim registered a goal and two assists on the road trip. She assisted on SLU's first goal and later scored the game-winning goal vs. La Salle, and she delivered a game-winning assist on SLU's first goal in the Duquesne match. Kim tallied eight total shots, including a career-high-tying five vs. Duquesne, and five shots on goal in the two games.
Escher posted a 0.50 goals against average and an .857 save percentage. She allowed no goals in the run of play – conceding only a penalty-kick goal to La Salle – made three saves in each game and recorded her seventh shutout of the season (fifth in conference play) at Duquesne.
Kim lifted her season totals to five goals, six assists and 16 points, all career highs. She leads Saint Louis and is tied for second in the A10 in assists, is second on the team and tied for seventh in the conference in points, and ranks second on the team in goals.
Escher is among the national leaders in three categories. She tops the A10 and ranks 12th nationally in goals against average (0.44), stands second in the league and 20th nationally in save percentage (.864), and ranks second in the conference and tied for 34th nationally in shutouts (seven).
The Billikens (11-2-4, 7-0-2 A10), who are No. 42 in the NCAA Division I Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) through games of Oct. 25, conclude the regular season Saturday, Oct. 31, at Hermann Stadium. The opponent is Rhode Island, and kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
As the regular-season champion and No. 1 seed for the eight-team A10 Championship, Saint Louis owns hosting privileges for all three rounds of the conference tournament that begins the first weekend of November.
