SEWARD, Neb. – After playing an instrumental role in a pair of shutout victories, sophomore Grace Soenksen has been named the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Defensive Player of the Week, as announced on Tuesday (Sept. 29). This marks the first career GPAC weekly award for Soenksen and the first for the Concordia University Women’s Soccer program in 2020.
A product of Lincoln Lutheran High School, Soenksen is in her second season as a starting center back. In that role, Soenksen helped the Bulldogs record clean sheets in GPAC wins last week over Dordt, 1-0, and Northwestern, 2-0. Those two opponents were limited to a combined nine shots. Soenksen also received credit for the game-winning goal versus Northwestern. In that instance, Soenksen headed in a corner kick for the second goal of her career. She was named honorable mention All-GPAC in 2019.
Grace is far from the first Soenksen to wear Bulldog blue. Before her arrival at Concordia, she was preceded by older brothers Tim, Kevin and Gideon and by older sister Esther. Grace became the fifth Soenksen sibling to score a goal as a Bulldog when she found the back of the net last season.
Up next, Soenksen and the Bulldogs (3-1, 3-0 GPAC) will host Dakota Wesleyan (4-0, 2-0 GPAC) at 5:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.