Caitlyn Espinosa once again is proving to be one of the top goalkeepers in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
The Fort Lewis College senior from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, earned the fourth RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week award of her career Tuesday after a strong weekend trip to Wichita Falls, Texas, where the Skyhawks played two matches to open the regular season.
Against Midwestern State in the season opener Thursday, Espinosa kept a clean sheet to earn her 23rd shutout, matching a career record at Fort Lewis along with Bree Baker (2005-08). She made six saves in the match.
“Caitlyn had a great, great game,” FLC head coach Jimmy Hall said after the team’s 1-0 win Thursday. “She came out and claimed balls from crosses, stopped shots and went to the ground and stopped breakaways.”
Espinosa followed that performance with another six-save game in a 1-1 draw with Texas Woman’s. She had an 0.45 goals against per game average on the trip.
Taylor Braden, a senior at UC-Colorado Springs, was named the Offensive Player of the Week after netting a game winner against No. 16 Texas A&M Commerce along with a goal against Texas A&M International. The Mountain Lions opened the season 2-0 with her help.
The RMAC Defensive Player of the Week distinction went to Jessica Westhoff of CSU-Pueblo. The sophomore helped the ThunderWolves keep Western Oregon off the board in a game in which CSU-Pueblo allowed only three shots against.
The Skyhawks will return to the pitch Thursday at Grand Junction against Angelo State University, where three teams are visiting Colorado Mesa University’s field along with the Mavericks. FLC will finish the weekend set Sept. 12 against No. 9 Dallas Baptist. Both games are NCAA Division II South Central Region games.
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