South Dakota State forward Leah Manuleleua put together an eight-point weekend to collect Summit League Offensive Player of the Week honors, while South Dakota goalkeeper Parker Rytz was named the Defensive Player of the Week after helping head coach Michael Thomas pick up his first victory for the Coyotes. s.
After dropping a pair of road matches during the opening weekend, Manuleleua helped the Jackrabbits rebound with back-to-back shutouts at home over the weekend. The junior forward opened the scoring in SDSU’s 8-0 blanking of Fort Wayne and went on to tally the ninth hat trick in program history. In Sunday’s, 1-0 victory over Drake, she finished with a team-high four shots.
Rytz was kept busy by Eastern Washington in Friday’s 1-1 tie for the Coyotes. She made a career-high 11 saves against the reigning Big Sky Champions, including two in extra time to help preserve the point. Rytz picked up her second shutout of the season in Sunday’s 3-0 victory at home over Chicago State. She finished the weekend with 12 saves.
