Kristina Larsen (UCLA/Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Steffen Vroom (DePaul/Libertyville, Ill.) have earned NSCAA National Player of the Week honors for Oct. 15.

Larsen assisted on the game-tying goal and netted the winner as UCLA extended its home unbeaten streak to 44 with a 2-1 overtime victory against No. 25 Washington State. Vroom had a pair of game-winners for the Blue Demons during the week, including the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over No. 11 South Florida.

Each week, a male and female player will be selected by a 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. 10 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 the women’s broadcast will highlight a battle in Virginia as Virginia Commonwealth travels to William and Mary for an 8 p.m. ET contest on Thursday, Oct. 16. On the Oct. 17 men’s game, No. 23 UC Santa Barbara visits Cal Poly, also at 8 p.m. ET.

Kristina Larsen
F, Jr., UCLA, Mission Viejo, Calif.
Larsen had a hand in five of UCLA’s six goals last week, as the Bruins earned victories over No. 25 Washington State and Washington in the first week of Pac-10 play. Trailing Washington State 1-0 with less than a minute remaining in the game, Larsen assisted on the game-tying goal to force the Cougars into overtime. Then, in the 102nd minute with UCLA on the brink of a tie, Larsen scored the game-winning goal to give the Bruins a 2-1 come-from-behind victory. Larsen’s late game heroics helped UCLA preserve its nation’s longest home unbeaten streak at 44. In the Bruins’ second game of the weekend, Larsen led UCLA’s offensive effort against Washington, scoring two goals and assisting on a third. UCLA went on to beat Washington 4-0. She finished the weekend with eight points on three goals and two assists.

Steffen Vroom
F, Jr., DePaul, Libertyville, Ill.
Vroom scored two game-winning goals in a pair of conference victories for DePaul. In a 1-0 win against No. 11 South Florida on Oct. 7, the junior forward beat USF’s backline and goalkeeper for the lone goal of the game. He followed that with a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win over Cincinnati on Oct. 11. He assisted on DePaul’s first goal in the 36th minute before heading home the game-winner through a sea of bodies in the 42nd minute.

This Year’s Recipients
Sept. 3: Women – Jenae Gibbens, Cal State Fullerton; Men – Baggio Husidic, UIC.
Sept. 10: Women – Lindsay Taylor, Stanford; Men – Sam Petrone, Seton Hall.
Sept. 17: Women – Briana Silvestri, Arizona State; Men – Paul King, Fairleigh Dickinson.
Sept. 24: Women – Kathleen Caggiano, Robert Morris; Men – Alejandro Bedoya, Boston College
Oct. 1: Women – Kelly Dyer, Texas A&M; Men – Austin Berry, Louisville
Oct. 8: Women – Casey Nogueira, North Carolina; Men – Jake Stacy, Michigan

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