Clarksville, TN – Senior forward Tatiana Ariza, of Austin Peay State University women’s soccer team, has been named the Tennessee Sportswriters Association women’s soccer Player of the Week after scoring a pair of goals to help the Lady Govs kick off Ohio Valley Conference play with an undefeated weekend.
Ariza scored the Lady Govs’ first goal in Friday’s 2-1 victory against defending OVC Champion UT Martin, scoring an 18th-minute goal to give Austin Peay its first lead against the Skyhawks since 2006.Of her 47 career goals as a Lady Gov, just two have come against the Skyhawks; Friday’s tally was joined by her 2012 goal in the regular-season contest that made her Austin Peay’s career leader in goals scored.
“We worked all week on getting the ball to our most advanced player in transition, and that was a textbook opportunity,” said head coach Kelley Guth. “(Courtney) Sheppard did a great job of finding her early and Tatiana had a great finish. It’s important to put the ball in the back of the net in clutch moments and she’s a player who can do that.”
Sunday, the Bogota, Colombia native netted her program-record eighth career penalty kick in the 40th minute against Southeast Missouri. It was her conference-leading eight goal of 2013.
The weekly honor from the sportswriters association is the first for Ariza and the second for a Lady Gov since the weekly award’s inception in 2012. Emily Perkins won for the final week of the 2012 regular season.