Lily Meisner (Morehead State/Taos, N.M.) and Ben Arikian (Massachusetts/West Islip, N.Y.) have earned NSCAA National Player of the Week honors for Nov. 12.

Meisner was strong in the net and also scored in the overtime shoot-out to help the Eagles down No. 1 seed Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference semifinals on the way to Morehead State’s first league tournament title. Arikian had four points as the Minutemen defeated No. 10 Saint Louis and Charlotte to claim the No. 1 seed in the A-10 Conference tournament.

Each week, a male and female player has been selected by a committee from a nomination pool comprised of players of the week from each NCAA Division I soccer conference. The players were announced each Wednesday afternoon 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 Friday’s men’s contest spotlights an Ivy League rivalry as Brown travels to Dartmouth on Nov. 14 for an 8 p.m. ET kickoff.

Lily Meisner
GK, So., Morehead State University, Taos, N.M.
She came out of goal to score the final PK in the shoot out to defeat top-seeded Murray State and send the Eagles to the championship match of the 2008 OVC Tournament. She also made 13 stops in the semifinal. Against UT Martin in the tourney final, recorded five saves to get the shutout victory. She was named the Tournament MVP. It is Morehead State's first OVC Tournament Title.

Ben Arikian
So., M, Massachusetts, West Islip, N.Y.
Arikian netted four points on one goal and two assists in the pair of wins over No. 10 Saint Louis (2-1, 2OT) and over Charlotte (1-0) as UMass (9-6-3/7-1-1) clinched the regular-season title and earned the top seed in the A-10 Championship Tournament. On Friday against Saint Louis, Arikian set up both UMass goals with two assists – including his pass which set-up the game-winning goal in the second OT period. On Sunday, he headed home the game-winning goal early in the second half. For the season, he has played a part in eight of UMass nine game-winning goals.

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.
Oct. 15: Women – Kristina Larsen, UCLA; Men – Steffen Vroom, DePaul.
Oct. 22: Women – Sanna Talonen, Florida State; Men – Avery Steinlage, Michigan State.
Oct. 29: Women – Kristina Larsen, UCLA; Men – Michael Holody, Michigan.
Nov. 4: Women – Sanna Talonen, Florida State; Men – Warren Gross, Penn State.

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