Five Points in Two Matches; Müller Wins Big South Offensive Player of the Week
September 9, 2024
Riding a nine-point heater over the past three matches to put the Presbyterian College women’s soccer team on pace for the best record in the league over the non-conference slate, redshirt-sophomore Lina-Marie Müller was chosen as the Big South Offensive Player of the Week.
Selected on Monday afternoon by league officials, Müller gets the nod after earning a D-I school-record three assists in a blowout over The Citadel. She followed that up with a 16th minute goal in yesterday’s 2-2 draw versus a well-equipped Georgia State opponent.
Ranking third in the Big South with 11 total points, the German has found nine of those in the past three games. Her early connection against the Panthers positioned her in a tie for second-place in the conference at four goals.
No player in PC history had collected three assists in a singular match since the team made the D-I transition in 2007, matching the second-best one-match total of any player in the country this fall.
Müller was instrumental in handing The Citadel their first L of the campaign, contributing to every Presby point in the 31st, 38th, and 50th minutes.
Against GSU, Lina delivered a snipe from a great distance to put her team in front at the 15:36 mark, the fourth time in seven matches that she has tallied at least one point.
OFFENSIVE POTW HISTORY
Presbyterian has now been chosen for the Big South’s Offensive Player of the Week honor in each of the past three seasons, with Müller joining Sloan Spees (2023) and Kori Lawrence (2022) to continue that streak.
This is the ninth time that a PC player has been named Offensive POTW and the 15th time collecting a weekly award of any kind (Defensive or Freshman included).
Just 14 days ago, senior keeper Kelly Hall was named the Big South Defensive Player of the Week after pitching a first-half shutout and logging eight saves in a key road victory at Furman.
LOOKING AHEAD
Two pivotal non-conference matchups will await head coach Matt Smith’s club, traveling to last year’s Southern Conference Tournament champion Western Carolina this Thursday for a 7:00 PM start.
In just the second all-time meeting between the two programs, PC will go toe-to-toe with a unit that accomplished 13 wins in ’23 and has blanked three consecutive foes going into Thursday’s clash.
Following that trip to Cullowhee, the Blue Hose will finish the non-con route on September 15 to face Mercer, a team that also grabbed a double-digit win count last year and started off the ’24 season with four wins in a row.
