CCIW Players of the Week - Liza Matimore & Rachel White

Matimore and White Sweep CCIW Player of the Week Honors

First weekly award for each

10/4/2022 12:01:00 PM

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Sophomore Liza Matimore (Gurnee, Ill.-Warren Township) and fifth-year senior Rachel White (Naperville, Ill.-Waubonsie Valley) of the Illinois Wesleyan University women's soccer team swept the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Player of the Week honors, announced by the league Tuesday, Oct. 4. Matimore and White aided the Titans to a 2-0 week against Millikin University, Sept. 28 (6-0 W) and Wheaton College, Oct. 1 (5-0 W) to push the Titans to the top of the league with a 3-0 CCIW record and 5-1-2 overall.

Matimore notched a total of 10 points over the span of two games to earn the offensive accolade, while White recorded an assist and aided in the back-to-back shutouts for the Titans for the defensive recognition. Both Matimore and White earned this weekly honor for the first time in their careers. It is also the first time IWU has swept since Caleyn Steffens and Maria Fields did so on Sept. 24, 2019. It is the first time this season a CCIW school has earned both the offensive and defensive award.

The Gurnee, Ill. native saw a seven-point game Wednesday, Sept. 28 as IWU faced off against Millikin University. In the 6-0 decision, Matimore led the Titans with her first-career hat trick in addition to an assist. Seven points ties for the third-most points in the program's history. Against the Big Blue, Matimore opened the scoring just 11 minutes into the match and clinched the game-winning goal. The sophomore then went on to assist teammate, Caelyn Steffens, before scoring her second of the day to put the Green and White up, 3-0 after the first 45 minutes of play. In similar fashion to the first half, Matimore opened the scoring once more around the 58 minute mark, and gave the Titans a comfortable 4-0 lead. Two more Titan goals capped off the scoring as IWU earned a 6-0 win. The sophomore also recorded a game-high 11 shots.

In IWU's 5-0 win over defending CCIW Tournament Champions, Wheaton Saturday, Oct. 1, Maitmore recorded one goal and one assist for a three-point day. Coming out of the first half ahead, 1-0, IWU scored three goals all within just two minutes of each other. Matimore assisted on IWU's third goal at the 49th minute mark and not even a minute later scored one of her own to once again put IWU up, 4-0. The Titans notched one more insurance goal to earn the 5-0 decision. Matimore tied for a team-high five shots. The win also marked the largest margin of victory over WC since the Titans took down the Thunder, 5-0, Sept. 29, 2004.

After the week, Matimore leads the conference in shots per game with 5.13, sits fifth in goals per game with .750 and in shots on goal per game with 2.63. She also leads in assists per game with .625 and sits third in points with 17.

Fifth-year senior and co-captain, White led IWU's back line and aided on the offensive front this past week. White notched an assist in the Titans 5-0 win over Wheaton College and recorded a total of 159 minutes over the two-game span. In addition, White has been a crucial part to the defensive success IWU has seen recently. Now on a four-game shutout streak, White helped the Titans to keep Millikin and Wheaton to a combined total of nine shots, all of which came from second-period play.

White was a crucial part in the shift of momentum in the match against the Thunder. Only ahead by one goal going into the second 45 and just three minutes into the second half, White, from the back line, found teammate Lauren Shanks who raced down the field to put the Titans up 2-0. Shanks' goal, assisted by White, jump started a three-goal run all within two minutes of each other, leading to the 5-0 historic win over the Thunder. The win marked IWU's first shutout of Wheaton since defeating the Thunder, 1-0, Oct. 17, 2015, and gave the Green and White its first win over its league foe since 2016.

The Titans continue CCIW action Wednesday, Oct. 5 as hosts to Augustana College. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Neis Field.

Print Friendly Version