Pace, Laser Sweep MAC Player of the Week Honors

CLEVELAND – Senior Miami University soccer players Stephanie Laser and Krista Pace have been named the Mid-American Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, the league office announced Monday. It is the first-career MAC weekly honor for each and marked Miami soccer’s first MAC weekly accolades of the season, despite being the final week for the awards this year.

Laser (Hinsdale, Ill.) had a five-point weekend, including her first-career three-point game in Thursday’s 8-0 win over Ball State. Against the Cardinals, she scored the game’s first goal, which was the game-winner, less than nine minutes into the match on a rocket from 35 yards out that beat the BSU keeper. She also added an assist on Miami’s eighth and final goal against Ball State.

In Sunday’s 2-0 MAC Tournament quarterfinal win at Akron, Laser added an insurance goal by heading home a free kick in the second half. She had scored just two goals in her entire four-year career entering the weekend. Laser placed three of her five shots over the weekend on goal with two going in.

Laser now has three goals and three assists on the year, playing in all but one game while starting 13 in the midfield.

Pace (Toronto, Ont.), who has played every second in goal for the RedHawks this year, broke Miami’s single-season shutouts record with a pair of shutouts over the weekend, including a clean sheet in Miami’s quarterfinal victory at Akron Sunday, giving her a 0.00 GAA and 1.000 save percentage for the weekend. She has now pitched three consecutive shutouts, giving her eight on the year, which broke a single-season mark that had stood since 2001.

Pace made nine saves on the weekend, including seven in the record-setting defeat of Ball State. She has a 0.61 goals-against average on the year, which also sets a Miami single-season record. Pace is already Miami’s all-time saves and shutouts record holder, setting the career saves mark last year and breaking the career shutouts record earlier this year, as she now has 16 clean sheets in her four years as a RedHawk. She has an .879 save percentage for the season.

Pace and Laser look to continue their strong performances as sixth-seeded Miami heads to Mount Pleasant, Mich. for the MAC Tournament semifinals where the RedHawks will face second-seeded Eastern Michigan on Friday at 2 p.m. ET for a spot in the MAC Championship game.