Mears earns second career defensive player of the week honor

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Senior goalkeeper Lani Mears of the Simpson College women's soccer team has been named Defensive Player of the Week by the American Rivers Conference for the second time in her career.

Mears went 1-1 between the posts last week, allowing just one goal against two regionally-ranked opponents. The Storm fell 1-0 to Milwaukee School of Engineering on Monday but rebounded in a 2-0 win at Grinnell, Mears' third shutout of the season. The Burlington, Iowa native made 13 saves between the two games.

This is the third consecutive week a Simpson women's soccer player has been recognized by the conference; Cassie Nash earned offensive player of the week honors on Sept. 5 and Julia Wagoner was tabbed defensive player of the week on Sept. 11. Mears earned her first player of the week recognition after the last week of the 2022 regular season.

Simpson currently sits at 5-1 overall and is set to take on Westminster (Mo.) tonight at 5:30 p.m. The Storm will open American Rivers Conference play against Central on Saturday at Buxton Stadium.

2023-24 A-R-C PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOREES
Lani Mears, Women's Soccer (9/18/23)
Ronaldo Ordaz, Men's Soccer (9/18/23)
Julia Wagoner, Women's Soccer (9/11/23)
Spencer Moon, Men's Cross Country (9/5/23, 9/11/23)
Cassie Nash, Women's Soccer (9/5/23)