Cullowhee, N.C. – Weekly in-season awards continue to funnel in for Western Carolina women's soccer this fall as the Catamounts continue to command the spotlight as goalkeeper Leanne Trudel was today named the Southern Conference Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week.
The award is Trudel's second of the season and third of her career and comes after she collected her conference-leading 10th and 11th clean sheets of the season.
With today's honor, WCU has earned eight weekly awards in a single season to represent both a program record and a SoCon record, surpassing the six awards amassed by the 2023 Catamounts and the 2019 Mercer Bears squad.
Trudel is only the fourth Catamount in school history to record more than one Player of the Week award in a single season, joining Milla Syska (2024), Becca Campbell (2023), and Naya Marcil (2023). The Canadian keeper is also the fourth Catamount to earn three or more honors from the conference. Trudel is tied with Becca Campbell for a total of three weekly plaudits from the conference and trails only the legendary WCU GK Caitlin Williams (4x) and Naya Marcil (5x).
The SoCon's weekly award winners are selected by the conference office from nominations submitted by the sports information or media relations personnel at each institution.
WCU's veteran netminder, Trudel's second conference accolade of the season comes after she collected four saves in a shutout week, giving the Catamounts four critical points in the regular-season conference race.
Arguably her biggest save of the week came in the 80' minute of a 1-0 victory in Greensboro. On the hunt for their 11th win of the season –and sixth of the SoCon slate—UNCG was awarded a free kick just outside the Catamount's 18-yard box. Trudel sprang into action, diving in front of Merle Greulich's shot to deny the set-piece goal and preserve the Purple and Gold's 11th shutout of the season.
Currently leading the Southern Conference in nearly every major statistical goalkeeping category, Trudel is enjoying a career in Cullowhee. She holds career-best marks in save percentage (.852) and goals against average (.51) through 16 games this season and has tied her career high in shutouts, posting nine solo efforts so far this season. She notched her 20th career shutout in the victory over UNCG, the second most in a career in Catamount history (Caitlin Williams, 28).
Trudel was joined by Samford's Whitaker Buchanan, who was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week for the Bulldogs.
Trudel and the Catamounts are back in action Thursday night in Greenville, S.C. with an opportunity to clinch the 2024 regular-season title against the perennial power, the Furman Paladins. Kick for the critical SoCon matchup is set for 7 p.m. at Stone Stadium. The match can be seen on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats through StatBroadcast linked at CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's soccer and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @Catamountsoccer).
