Sept. 7, 2009

LAS VEGAS - UNLV's Alicia Lugo was named the Mountain West Conference Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week, it was announced by the league office on Monday. Lugo is the first Rebel to earn weekly honors this season, and it's the fourth weekly MWC honor in her career.

Lugo, a senior goalkeeper and native of Lancaster, Calif., did not allow a goal over two games this past week while recording two shutouts on the road against two teams from the top soccer conference in the nation, the ACC. Against previously undefeated NC State, she faced three shots and made one save in UNLV's 1-0 victory on Sept. 3. Then on Sept. 5 against 24th-ranked Duke, Lugo came up big, making 11 stops to earn a shutout in the double-overtime 0-0 tie while facing a total of 31 shots from the Blue Devils. For the week she posted 12 saves, while she now has 21 career shutouts, which ranks her second all-time at UNLV, and her 30 saves this season leads the league.

UNLV, 2-1-2 and riding a four-game unbeaten streak, returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Ohio State at 5 pm at Peter Johann Memorial Field.