Oct. 8, 2008

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - Casey Nogueira of the Univeristy of North Carolina, a Raleigh, N.C. native, and Jake Stacy of the University of Michigan, a Grand Rapids, Mich. native, have earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America National Player of the Week honors for October 8.

Nogueira scored five goals for the Tar Heels, including a hat trick against Wake Forest, as North Carolina defeated a pair of ranked conference foes. Stacy helped Michigan record back-to-back wins against ranked teams for the first time in school history by scoring the game-winner in each contest.

Each week, a male and female player are by a committee from a nomination pool comprised of players of the week from each NCAA Division I soccer conference. The players will be announced each Wednesday afternoon from now until Nov. 10 through NSCAA.com, the official website of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

They also will be recognized at halftime of the NSCAA College Game of the Week on Fox Soccer Channel, a schedule of 20 men's and women's intercollegiate matches. This week the women's schedule will feature the America East Conference as Boston University travels to Binghamton University for an 8 p.m. ET contest on Thursday, Oct. 9. On Oct. 10, two ranked Big East men's teams square off as No. 8 Louisville heads to Tampa for a game against No. 11 South Florida, also at 8 p.m. ET.

Casey Nogueira
F, Jr., North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.
Nogueira accounted for five of the second-ranked Tar Heels' seven goals in a pair of road wins over nationally-ranked teams. Nogueira scored twice in North Carolina's 3-0 win at No. 9 Duke on Thursday and delivered a hat trick in Sunday's 4-2 victory at No. 16 Wake Forest. The Raleigh, N.C., native also had an assist against the Demon Deacons, giving her a total of 11 points in the two games. Nogueira's two goals against Duke came against a team that had not allowed a score in its previous seven home games. Against Wake Forest, Nogueira followed her first goal by assisting on North Carolina's next score, giving the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead. Nogueira's third goal came late in the game, shortly after the Demon Deacons had scored to close within 3-2. Nogueira leads the ACC in scoring with 29 points and 12 goals. Her five assists rank second on North Carolina's team. The hat trick was her second as a college player (the first came September 21, 2007, vs. Ohio State), and the ACC Player of the Week honor is the second of her career.

Jake Stacy
F, Sr., Michigan, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Stacy led Michigan to one of the best weekends in program history as the Wolverines downed No. 8 Notre Dame 3-1 and bested No. 20 Indiana in Bloomington, 1-0. Against the Irish, Stacy scored the games third goal in the 23rd minute of the first half to give his team the early 2-1 advantage. In Sunday's matchup at Indiana, the senior forward netted the game's only goal within the first few minutes of play. Michigan defeated two ranked opponents in back-to-back games for the first time in school history.

This Year's Recipients
Sept. 3: Women - Jenae Gibbens, Cal State Fullerton; Men - Baggio Husidic, UIC.
Sept. 10: Women - Lindsay Taylor, Stanford; Men - Sam Petrone, Seton Hall.
Sept. 17: Women - Briana Silvestri, Arizona State; Men - Paul King, Fairleigh Dickinson.
Sept. 23: Women - Kathleen Caggiano, Robert Morris; Men - Alejandro Bedoya, Boston College
Sept. 30: Women - Kelly Dyer, Texas A&M; Men - Austin Berry, Louisville