DePaul University Athletics
Gorden, Ben, Reed Garner BIG EAST Conference Accolades
11/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S SOCCER
CHICAGO - No. 13/8 DePaul finished with a flourish in the final BIG EAST Conference Weekly Awards announced by the league on Monday.
Sarah Gorden was chosen BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week, Alexa Ben won the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week award and Abby Reed was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll.
In addition, DePaul's NCAA RPI ranking climbed four spots to No. 20 this week.
The Blue Demons also had three conference award-winners on Aug. 25 when Reed was Offensive Player of the Week, Ben Rookie of the Week and Rachel Pitman made the Honor Roll.
For Gorden, this was her first time being honored as the league's top defensive player. She headed a back line that limited a potent St. John's offense to just two shots on goal in last Friday's 3-0 Blue Demon victory at Wish Field that clinched the program's first BIG EAST regular-season title.
Gorden did an outstanding job keeping track of the Red Storm's dangerous forward Rachel Daly, who could only get off one shot that went wide.
For Ben, this was the third-straight time the freshman forward has been named Rookie of the Week. She had a goal and an assist in the win over St. John's that extended DePaul's unbeaten streak to 18 games. The assist tied her for the DePaul single-season record set by Erin Walter in 2004.
Ben has won the Rookie of the Week award a total of five times this season, making her the early favorite to claim the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year honor that will be announced on Tuesday along with the other top individual awards, the All-BIG EAST First and Second Teams and the All-Rookie Team.
Reed scored two goals, including the game-winner, in the victory over St. John's. Those two scores tied her for the program's single-season record of 12 goals set by Julianne Sitch in 2003.
DePaul (15-0-3) completed the first undefeated regular season in school history and remains one of only two unbeaten teams in the country along with No. 1/1 UCLA.
The Blue Demons claimed a BIG EAST award in each of the 11 weeks this season.
No. 1 seed DePaul has a bye into the BIG EAST Championship semifinals that begin Friday in New York. The Blue Demons will face the winner of Tuesday's first-round match when Providence travels to Marquette.
