BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Freshman forward Chandler Backes has been named the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on TopDrawerSoccer.com's National Team of the Week as announced by the organizations Tuesday morning.
The honors are the first of Backes' young career on The Hill, and the Carmel, Ind., native is the first player in program history to be named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's National Team of the Week. Betsy Duncan is the only other Lady Topper to earn national recognition on a weekly team, as she was named to Soccer America's Team of the Week on Aug. 31, 2004.
Backes is also the first WKU player to earn Offensive Player of the Week honors from the C-USA office since teammate Iris Dunn on Oct. 20, 2014.
The freshman notched three goals in WKU's pair of matches this weekend, netting one in the 2-1 overtime victory over Austin Peay on Friday before firing a pair in a 4-0 win against Georgia State on Sunday afternoon. Backes currently leads all C-USA players in both goals (five) and points (11) in 2016 and has a pair of multi-goal matches after also scoring twice in the season opener at UT Martin.
Nationally, Backes is tied for 17th with her five goals and tied for 21st with 11 points thus far this season. Buoyed by her breakout performance, the Lady Toppers (3-2-0) have notched 15 goals as a team through five matches after finding the back of the net 20 times in total during the 2015 campaign.
Backes and the Lady Toppers will return to action on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at the WKU Soccer Complex for a clash with LSU. WKU will be seeking its first win over an SEC foe since defeating Ole Miss, 2-1, on Aug. 22, 2008.
Season tickets are available online at WKUSports.com or by phone at 1-800-5-BIGRED. A $25 flexible ticket package is available that includes all seven remaining regular season home matches against LSU, Morehead State, Southern Miss, Middle Tennessee, UAB, UTSA and Old Dominion.
For more information on WKU Soccer, visit WKUSports.com or follow the team via social media @WKU_Soccer on Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/WKUAthletics.
