Katy Frierson (Auburn/Homewood, Ala.) and Yoni Berhanu (George Washington/Potomac, Md.) have earned the final Disney Soccer/NSCAA National Player of the Week honors for the 2011 season.

Frierson, the 2010 NSCAA Scholar Athlete of the Year, was named the SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the No. 7-seeded Tigers to wins over the top three seeds to claim its first SEC title. Berhanu scored three times to lead GW to a share of its first Atlantic-10 regular-season title.

Each week of the 2011 season, 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 were 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.

Katy Frierson
M, Sr., Auburn, Homewood, Ala.
Frierson became Auburn’s first-ever 100-point player in the championship match of the SEC Tournament, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the 3-2 win over No. 23 Florida. She now has 102 points and needs five more points to break into the SEC’s top 10. Frierson was named the SEC Tournament MVP for her performance in Auburn’s run to its first SEC Tournament Championship, collecting two goals and an assist. Auburn became the lowest seed to win the SEC Tournament, entering as the No. 7 seed and defeating the No. 2 seed (SEC West Champion LSU) in the first round, the No. 3 seed (Tennessee) in the semifinals and the No. 4 seed and defending tournament champion (Florida) in the championship match.

Yoni Berhanu
F, Sr., George Washington, Potomac, Md.
Berhanu totaled three goals, including the game-winners against both St. Bonaventure and Duquesne, to help George Washington capture a share of its first Atlantic 10 regular-season title since 1992. He converted the game-winning penalty kick and a rebound of his own saved spot attempt to lift the Colonials to a 3-0 triumph over the Bonnies on Friday. Then in Sunday’s critical contest against the Dukes, Berhanu curled in a 25-yard free kick in the 72nd minute for the deciding tally in the Colonials’ 1-0 victory. Berhanu now leads GW and ranks among the A-10 leaders with 10 goals and 23 points.

 
This Year’s Recipients
Aug. 24: Women – Lexi Kopf, UC Irvine; Men – No selection (season not started).
Aug. 31: Women – Courtney Jones, North Carolina; Men – Tyler Riggs, Kentucky
Sept. 7: Women – Krista Lopez, Oklahoma State; Men – Billy Schuler, North Carolina
Sept. 14: Women – Lindsay Taylor, Stanford; Men – Tim Hopkinson, Old Dominion
Sept. 21: Women – Katie Stengel, Wake Forest; Men – Philip Aseweh, Liberty
Sept. 28: Women – Alexis Owens, Tennessee; Men – Steven Evans, Portland
Oct. 5: Women – Katie Ryan, Villanova; Men – Casey Townsend, Maryland
Oct. 12: Women – Kristin Player, UNCG; Men – Andrew Wenger, Duke
Oct. 19: Women – Kate Howarth, Miami; Men – Mark Sherrod, Memphis
Oct. 26: Women – Laura Weinberg, Duke; Men – Chip Sanders, Davidson
Nov. 2: Women – Gibby Wagner, Boston College; Men – Brynjar Benediktsson, Clemson

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