Jessica Maxwell (North Carolina/Colleyville, Texas) and Nick Perera (UC Santa Barbara/Madrid, Spain) have earned NSCAA National Player of the Week honors for Oct. 11.

Maxwell anchored North Carolina’s defense in a pair of shutout victories on the road against nationally-ranked opponents Virginia and Duke. She also added an assist in each of the matches. Meanwhile, Perera drove two goals into the net as the Gauchos logged a home conference victory over UC Irvine and gained a share of the Big West conference lead.

Each week, a male and female player will be selected by committee from a nomination pool comprised of players of the week from each NCAA Division I soccer conference. The players will be announced each Wednesday afternoon from now until Nov. 1 through NSCAA.com, the official website of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. They also will be recognized at halftime of the NSCAA College Game of the Week on Fox Soccer Channel, a schedule of 20 men’s and women’s intercollegiate matches. This week’s schedule features a women’s ACC match-up on Wednesday, Oct. 11, with No. 9 Wake Forest (12-2-0) hosting Duke (7-5-1). Two men’s games also are on tap this week. Thursday’s match will see Stetson (2-8-2) traveling to Tampa to face South Florida (6-4-3), while Friday’s match features a Pac-10 battle as Washington (8-4-0) tries to snap a four-game losing string at Stanford (5-4-3).

Jessica Maxwell, D, Jr., University of North Carolina, Colleyville, Texas
North Carolina’s Jessica Maxwell was honored as the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week after leading the Tar Heels to a pair of shutout victories on the road against Virginia (2-0) and Duke (3-0) last week. Maxwell recorded an assist in each match and anchored the North Carolina defense that posted shutouts against two top 25 conference opponents. In Thursday’s match at No. 16 Virginia, the junior defender assisted on Ali Hawkins’ goal in the 33rd minute to give the Tar Heels a two-goal advantage. UNC’s defense limited the Cavaliers to just eight shots, three on goal, holding Virginia scoreless for the first time since October 22, 1999, a span of nine matches. Against No. 24 Duke, Maxwell assisted on the Tar Heels’ second goal as North Carolina limited the Blue Devils to just four shots. The Colleyville, Texas native led the defensive charge that shut out Duke for the first time since October 1, 2003. North Carolina has now posted four straight shutouts and 11 overall in 2006. The last four shutouts have come during conference play.

Nick Perera, F, So., UC Santa Barbara, Madrid, Spain
Perera scored twice in the Gauchos' 2-0 home conference win over then-No. 7-ranked UC Irvine, propelling them into a first-place tie in the conference with the Anteaters. The victory also snapped UCI's eight-match unbeaten streak and handed the Anteaters their first loss since early September. Perera, who did not score last season as a freshman, now has three goals and an assist for seven points on the year. He is second on the team in goals and third in points. Two of his goals have been of the game-winning variety, making him one of five players in the conference to have two game-winners.

Previous Winners
Women – Aug. 30: Shoko Mikami, Memphis; Sept. 6: Kelsey Carpenter, Texas; Sept. 13: Amy McClintock, Rice; Sept. 20: Erin Kane, Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Sept. 27: Heather O’Reilly, North Carolina; Oct 4: Roberta Pelargio, Central Florida
Men – Aug. 30: Paul Leitelt, Valparaiso; Sept. 6: Stephen King, Maryland; Sept. 13: Yannick Reyering, Virginia; Sept. 22: Maxwell Griffin, UCLA; Sept. 27: Jarrod Smith, West Virginia; Oct. 4: Riley O’Neill, Kentucky

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