Now No. 23 in RPI, Women’s Soccer Sweeps C-USA Weekly Awards

BOCA RATON, Fla. – After a clean sweep weekend, defeating North Texas and Rice to move from fourth to first in the Conference USA standings, C-USA rewarded Florida Atlantic University women's soccer on Monday with three weekly awards. Additionally, the 13-3-1 squad has moved up to No. 23 nationwide in the NCAA RPI ratings.

Bestowed C-USA honors on Monday were Co-Offensive Player of the Week Pernille Velta, Defensive Player of the Week Luisa Daikeler, and Goalkeeper of the Week Cassidy Wasdin. For Velta and Daikeler, it is their first career conference weekly award. For Wasdin, she earns her third goalkeeper honor this season.

The Owls came into last weekend rated No. 32 in the RPI, and their wins came over then-No. 60 North Texas and No. 63 Rice, at that point the next two C-USA teams on the ledger. Now the top teams in C-USA read like this:

No. 23 FAU
No. 64 North Texas
No. 74 Rice
No. 78 Charlotte
No. 94 Old Dominion
No. 97 UAB

Among in-state schools, the list is:

No. 4 Florida State
No. 21 Florida
No. 23 FAU
No. 27 USF
No. 77 FGCU
No. 108 UCF
No. 113 Miami
No. 122 UNF
No. 304 Stetson
No. 315 FIU
No. 318 Jacksonville

And finally, among non-Power 5 schools, the Owls rank among the top teams in that category as well:

No. 7 Brown
No. 17 BYU
No. 22 Hofstra
No. 23 FAU
No. 24 Santa Clara
No. 25 Memphis

Here is a breakdown of the C-USA weekly award winners:
Co-Offensive Player of the Week Pernille Velta
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The Owls' senior forward had a tremendous weekend in FAU's sweep over North Texas and Rice to take over first place in the C-USA standings. She scored the only goal, a penalty kick, to top the Mean Green Friday, 1-0. Then, against the conference's other Owls, she scored in the 3rd and 19th minutes for a 2-0 lead, and when Rice cut it back down to one, assisted on what would become the game-winning goal in a 3-2 Sunday victory. Her three goals and one assist on the weekend bring her season totals to eight and four, which rank second and tied for first, respectively, on the squad.

Velta on winning the award:
"It's an honor to receive this recognition. We probably played two of the toughest teams in conference this weekend, but we came in prepared and ready to fight, so to get two wins is huge for us, and I'm very proud of my team. Now we have the opportunity to play for a championship again, and we are all very excited about that!"

Head Coach Patrick Baker on Velta:
"Pernille is having a fantastic senior year and had her most productive weekend this past Friday and Sunday. She played at a very high level on Friday and calmly slotted the penalty kick in the second half that proved to be the game-winner. Pernille plays as well as anyone, back to goal, and she did a great job of bringing others into the game throughout the night. Sunday afternoon she was on fire – her dribbling, turning and passing was on point. She scored the first goal off a lovely little sequence and then stepped up for another penalty kick that put us up 2-0 against Rice. With the game at 2-1, she created and served for the third goal as Sammy Vitols finished for a 3-1 lead. You need seniors to be at their best in their last season and she is having a special fall."

Defensive Player of the Week Luisa Daikeler
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The freshman centerback helped hold the formidable teams of North Texas and Rice to just one combined goal in the run of play, over a weekend sweep that propelled FAU into first place in the C-USA standings. She aided the Owls to a clean sheet win over North Texas, holding the Mean Green off the scoreboard despite 14 shots. She also had the through ball on what became the game-winner, as her long pass into the box preceded a foul that led to the eventual penalty kick for the victory. Against Rice, the visiting Owls scored twice but one was on a PK, and the FAU defense came up big against 12 Rice shots in a 3-2 win.

Daikeler on winning the award:
"Being named Defensive player of the Week is a big honor for me, especially as a freshman. This award perfects last weekend and represents the great work we did as a team!"

Baker on Daikeler:
"Louisa came in as a very heralded recruit and she hasn't disappointed one bit. The youth German national team captain has been stellar and had a tremendous weekend against North Texas and Rice. She and the other members of the defense had to deal with a lot of long balls, crosses and shots on Friday – which she handled well. Louisa made a great run out of the back and clipped a wonderful into back space which led to Mary O'Hara getting taken down from behind which would result in a penalty kick. Then Sunday in the heat, she and Alex Maxson were good in possession and dealing with the bigger ball. Her prowess on set pieces has been an added part to our overall attack and has been an extra component to overall game."

Goalkeeper of the Week Cassidy Wasdin
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Redshirt freshman keeper Cassidy Wasdin held firm against the tough opposition of North Texas and Rice in a weekend sweep, moving the FAU squad into first place in the C-USA standings with a game to go. She turned in a clean sheet 1-0 win over the Mean Green Friday, achieving a new career best with seven saves in the matchup. Against Rice, the visiting Owls scored twice, but one came on a PK, and the Jacksonville native added another five saves to pick up her 12th victory (and FAU's 13th), moving the squad to 7-1-1 in C-USA play.

Wasdin on winning the award:
"I am again thankful for this recognition, but the 10 girls in front of me really make my job a lot easier in every game. It was a whole team effort on defense this weekend and it showed with two huge wins. I'm so honored to be a part of a team that's so driven to win, and always works back to save you if you make a mistake. I'm excited to finish out this season with this special team."

Baker on Wasdin:
"We are excited for Cassidy to be recognized again for her efforts in goal. Facing two of the most competitive teams in C-USA and she comes up with two big wins. The 1-0 shutout of high-powered North Texas was extremely important on Friday and then to preserve the three points on Sunday against Rice was just as valuable. Her growth as a redshirt freshman has been steady and has improved a great deal since August. Coach Fertenbaugh deserves a lot of credit in developing both Cass and Bri (Brianna Waggoner) this fall – they both are very good goalkeepers."

Assistant Coach Cameron Fertenbaugh on Wasdin:
"This past weekend was the toughest test our team faced all year, and we knew that going in. The amount of preparation Cass has done up until this point really allowed her to be confident and ready in a variety of situations. She had to deal with lots of crosses, shots and set pieces under a lot of pressure all weekend. Under all that pressure, with how much we had riding on these games, she came up huge. It just speaks so much to her mentality and to her attention to detail, and at the end of the day, she did what she needed to do in the biggest of moments. Very happy and proud of how far she's come this season and how she continues to push herself to get better."

The trio and 7-1-1 Owls host FIU this Friday at 7 p.m. for Senior Night. A win would clinch the outright 2019 C-USA regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the league's upcoming postseason tournament, Nov. 6-10, in Denton, Texas.

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