LA JOLLA, Calif. – For the second time this week, two UC San Diego scholar-athletes were honored by The Big West when the conference's weekly women's soccer awards were announced on Friday afternoon. Senior captain Keara Fitzgerald was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week and first year Triton Alexis Nguyen once again captured Big West Freshman of the Week recognition.
 
UC San Diego goalkeeper Keara Fitzgerald registered eight saves over 68-plus minutes as the Tritons posted a clean sheet in a 1-0 win at then-first place Cal Poly Thursday night in the regular season finale. Fitzgerald left the game in the 69th minute due to injury. For the season, the Ventura native led The Big West with 97 saves as well as a 5.39 saves per game average.
 
Freshman midfielder Alexis Nguyen scored her first collegiate goal in the 89th minute to propel the Tritons to a 1-0 win at then-first place Cal Poly – UC San Diego's first-ever over the Mustangs in five tries. The victory propelled the Tritons to a fifth-place finish in the conference standings. Nguyen started all 18 matches for UC San Diego this season and finished second among Big West freshmen with five assists. She was also named Big West Freshman of the Week on Monday after registering a pair of assists in a UC San Diego victory over CSUN last week.
 

?? Grab the ??, this one's worth staying up for...#GoTritons x #HeresToIt pic.twitter.com/6IlMwqx2S0

— UCSD Women's Soccer (@UCSDwsoc) October 27, 2023

Despite finishing fifth in The Big West standings, conference regulations prevent the Tritons from taking part in the six-team Big West Championship which begins on Sunday. As a result of the conference's decision, for UC San Diego's graduating scholar-athletes, their final on-field memory will be Thursday's thrilling road win at Cal Poly that knocked the Mustangs out of first place in the conference standings.
 
The Tritons concluded their season with a 4-3-3 mark in conference play, including wins at tournament second seed UC Davis and the aforementioned triumph Thursday in San Luis Obispo.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.