From SWOSU Sports Info
Doug Self, Sports Information Director
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Alimata Rabo was honored as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division II Women’s National Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon. She becomes the second SWOSU player in the past two years to garner the weekly award, joining Charlotte Eastman who earned the honor last season.
Monday, Rabo was selected as the OSN College Player of the Week
Rabo, a native of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, earned the award after her standout performances in SWOSU’s three matches last week, scoring nine goals while assisting on four others and earning 22 total points on the week. Rabo’s efforts helped the Bulldogs to a 2-0-1 finish with victories over Randall and Southwestern Christian and a tie against Central Oklahoma.
On Wednesday, Rabo earned the first hat trick of her career scoring three goals against Randall University. She managed to score all three of her goals in a mere 55 minutes of action on the day. The hat trick at the time was SWOSU’s 7th hat trick in school history. Rabo also added an assist to her credit during the game, and ended the game with 11 shots taken, five of which were on goal, as the Dawgs beat the Saints 11-0.
Two days later, Rabo and the Bulldogs played another opponent in Southwestern Christian with a similar result, beating the Eagles 11-0. Rabo’s time was limited even more, only playing in 48 minutes of the game. But that didn’t stop the freshman from scoring four times and assisting on three other goals. It was her second-straight game with a hat trick and now the 9th in school history.
Heading into the weekend the Bulldogs were faced with their first road challenge of the season against Central Oklahoma on Sunday. SWOSU fell behind in the match 2-0 and all looked grim for the Bulldogs until the 82nd minute, when Rabo headed a ball in to cut the lead to 2-1. Two minutes later, Rabo struck again this time with the equalizer to put the score at 2-2 in the 84th minute. Neither team was able to score a goal in either of the overtime periods and the match ended in a draw. The freshman ended the day playing in all 110 minutes of the match, taking 13 shots, 6 of which were on goal, and scoring both of the Bulldog’s goals on the day.
As of September 12, Rabo is tied for the NCAA Division II lead in goals scored on the year with 10, and alone at the top of the leaderboards in assists with 5. Her and the Bulldog scoring attack rank third in the nation in goals per game, scoring an average of 5.60 goals a game.
SWOSU will need Rabo’s offense moving forward, finishing up their non-conference schedule against West Texas A&M on Thursday (Sept. 15) before starting the challenging Great American Conference stretch of their schedule starting on September 20.
About the NSCAA
Celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2016, the National Soccer Coaches Association was founded in 1941 and is based in Kansas City, Mo. It is a non-profit organization with the mission of advocating for, educating and serving soccer coaches to encourage excellence and elevate the game.
The NSCAA is the world’s largest soccer coaches’ organization with members at every level of the game from youth to professional. Benefits of membership are wide ranging including a national coaching education program, $1 million of general liability insurance, recognition for players and coaches as All Americas and Coaches of the Year, the annual NSCAA Convention, networking and mentor opportunities, Soccer Journal magazine and much more. To learn more, visit www.nscaa.com.