Women's Soccer 9/21/2026 2:11:59 PM

PNW's Tanner and RU's Sarnicola named GLIAC women's soccer players of the week

The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) has announced its weekly awards following Week 4 of the 2026 women's soccer season. Purdue Northwest midfielder Natasha Tanner (Offensive Player of the Week) and Roosevelt goalkeeper Kaylee Sarnicola (Defensive Player of the Week) were recognized.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Natasha Tanner, Purdue Northwest
Purdue Northwest Women's Soccer senior midfielder Natasha Tanner has earned this week's GLIAC Offensive Player of the week after a great weekend on the pitch. Tanner played a crucial role in the Lions' success during a two-match GLIAC week, scoring twice and delivering the game-winning goal in the Lions’ 1-0 road victory at Ferris State on Sunday. Tanner opened the week with a strong performance at Wayne State on Friday, scoring one goal while playing all 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw. She finished the match with three shots, putting two on target and scoring on one of her attempts. Tanner then came through with the biggest offensive moment of the week at Ferris State. Playing 35 minutes, she scored the game-winning goal to give PNW a 1-0 victory in a key GLIAC road matchup. Her goal proved to be the difference as the Lions secured an important conference win away from home. Over the two matches, Tanner recorded two goals on five shots, with three shots on goal. She scored in both matches and provided the decisive goal in PNW’s shutout victory over Ferris State.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Kaylee Sarnicola backstopped Roosevelt to a 1-0-1 record this weekend, turning away 23 shots and faced 54 total shot attempts to help the Lakers win their first match of the season. The freshman made six stops in a 2-1 win over Northern Michigan and kept a clean sheet until the 89th minute when a bad bounce put the Wildcats in on goal alone. She then stopped 17 shots, including several diving saves, against Michigan Tech, allowing only an own goal the entire match.

HONORABLE MENTION
Offense: Madison Bilbia (Northern Michigan), Vesna Dennison (Grand Valley State), Abby Ellis (Saginaw Valley State), Kayden Schmidt (Parkside), Katherine Welch (Ferris State), Mairin Wessner (Wayne State)
Defense: Kate Helfen (Wayne State), Riley Hill (Northern Michigan), Macie Hunter (Grand Valley State), Korinne Ihrke (Ferris State), Ava Wilberding (Saginaw Valley State)