Aug. 22, 2011

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -

Air Force freshman midfielder McKenna Fox and San Diego State senior midfielder Cat Walker have been selected Mountain West Co-Offensive Players of the Week, while New Mexico junior defender Lauren Irwin has been named MW Defensive Player of the Week.

Fox, a native of Alpine, Utah, notched Air Force’s first hat-trick since 2001 in the Falcons’ 4-1 victory over CSU-Pueblo on Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colo. The last Air Force women’s soccer student-athlete to accomplish that feat was Jennifer Rowland against Georgia State on Sept. 21, 2001. Fox scored the first goal of the match just 2:49 into the contest and then added two more scores early in the second half. She also recorded an assist in the Falcons’ 4-1 win over Colorado School of Mines on Friday night, finishing the two-game slate with four points.

In her first match back from an ACL injury that sidelined her for the entire 2010 campaign, Walker scored the game-winning goal, on a penalty shot, to propel San Diego State to a 1-0 home win over Arizona on Friday. A product of Folsom, Calif., Walker found the back of the net in the 68th minute to help the Aztecs emerge with the victory. She tallied her second goal of the season at California on Sunday afternoon, forcing the contest into extra time with an equalizer in the 86th minute. The Aztecs fell to the Bears, 2-1, in overtime.

Hailing from Anaheim, Calif., Irwin helped New Mexico go 1-0-1 against St. Mary’s (T, 1-1 (2OT)) and CSU Bakersfield (W, 4-0) on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, respectively. Irwin paced a Lobo defensive back line that allowed only one goal over the course of 200 minutes of action over the weekend. Irwin was a steady presence in the box, providing coverage for goalkeeper Kelli Cornell. In two matches, the Lobo defense allowed a combined five shots on goal between the Gaels (4) and the Roadrunners (1).