Courtney Jones (North Carolina/Danville, Calif.) and Tyler Riggs (Kentucky/Louisville, Ky.) enjoyed stellar performances to earn Disney Soccer/NSCAA National Player of the Week honors for Aug. 31.

Jones was a key player in the Tar Heels’ 2-1 victory over reigning national champion Notre Dame, while Riggs sparked the Wildcats to wins over Dayton and No. 9 Michigan, coming off the bench to score both goals against the Wolverines.

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. 8 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, a schedule of 20 men’s and women’s intercollegiate matches. After Hurricane Irene forced the postponement of last week’s season opener, the schedule will get underway this Friday, Sept. 2, when Stanford’s men’s side travels cross-country to challenge No. 4 Maryland in a 7:30 p.m. ET contest. The women’s schedule will open on Wednesday, Sept. 7, when No. 11 Marquette meets Milwaukee in an intra-city clash beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

Courtney Jones
F, Sr., North Carolina, Danville, Calif.

Jones led the Tar Heels to two wins, including a victory over defending NCAA champion and No.1-ranked Notre Dame. She figured in both goals in UNC’s 2-1 win over the Fighting Irish on Friday, then came back two days later to assist on the opening goal in the Tar Heels’ 6-1 win over Houston. Jones, who leads UNC in assists with three, fed Ranee Premji for the opening goal of the game against Notre Dame in the 20th minute. With the game tied in overtime, Jones took a pass from Kealia Ohai and uncorked a shot with pace from 22 yards that found the lower left corner of the net, lifting UNC to a 2-1 win, breaking a three-game home losing streak to Notre Dame and giving the Heels their first win over the Irish at Fetzer Field since 1998. Jones then assisted on the first goal against the Cougars with a corner kick feed as the Tar Heels went on to beat Houston by a lopsided 6-1 margin.

Tyler Riggs
F, So., University of Kentucky, Louisville, Ky.

Riggs had a breakout weekend in wins over Dayton and No. 9 Michigan, coming off the bench in both games to lead the Wildcats to wins with three total goals and both game-winners. With UK trailing No. 9 Michigan in the 78th minute on Sunday, Riggs came off the bench to net the game-tying goal in traffic inside the six-yard box. He then found the net less than four minutes later with the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute on a breakaway, beating the standout UM keeper one-on-one for the 2-1 victory against the Wolverines, a program that advanced to the NCAA College Cup just last season. Riggs’ first career two-goal game marked the 56th all-time multi-goal in UK men’s soccer history and led UK to its first win over a top-10 ranked foe since besting No. 1 SMU in 2007 in Lexington. In Friday’s season opener with Dayton in front of 1,334 fans, Riggs also registered the game-winner.

This Year’s Recipients

Aug. 24: Women – Lexi Kopf, UC Irvine; Men – No selection (season not started).

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