Northwest Notes Sept. 7, 2021

Former Lake City standout Rieken earns Pac-12 honors

SAN FRANCISCO – For the first time in her college career, junior Bridget Rieken has been named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the conference office Monday afternoon.

Rieken, a former Lake City High standout, is the first Cougar to earn a weekly award in 2021 and the first since Marissa Zucchetto earned Goalkeeper of the Week to close out the spring season last year.

The anchor of the Cougs' backline, Rieken led the Cougs to a perfect weekend on the pitch as WSU earned a pair of shutouts over San Diego State (3-0) and Hawai'i (7-0). The win over the Aztecs was the Cougars' first on the road in 2021 while the win over the Rainbow Wahine kept WSU undefeated on the year at 3-0-1 overall. Completely dominating the field at all levels, Rieken and her defensive mates allowed just six total shots in the two contests with only two finding their way to Zucchetto in goal. Against Hawai'i, the Cougs held the Rainbow Wahine without a single shot for the final 58 minutes of the contest. In total the Cougs enter the week riding a three-match shutout streak that has run its way to 364:06 minutes.

While dominating the defensive end of the field Rieken found time to get into the offensive fun as well as she scored not just one but two goals for the brace against Hawai'i Sunday afternoon. The big centerback made good on a pair of Cougar corners, cleaning up a rebound and a scramble for her first career tallies. The two goals helped to cap off the Cougars' largest win in nearly two decades as WSU notched seven goals in a game for the first time since 2002.

Rieken and the rest of the Cougs are back on the pitch Thursday, Sept. 9 to face off against Seattle U at 7 p.m. at Lower Soccer Field. The home contest closes out WSU's homestand before the team hits the road for three matches to close out non-conference play.

Barriere, Montana players earn Big Sky football awards

Eastern Washington's Eric Barriere and UC Davis' Hunter Rodrigues were named Co-Offensive Players of the Week, Montana's Marcus Welnel earned Defensive Player of the Week accolades, and UC Davis' Isaiah Gomez and Montana's Brian Buschini were selected as Co-Special Teams Players of the Week.

On the offensive side of the ball, Barriere and Rodrigues each led their teams to an FBS win as both quarterbacks passed for over 300 yards. Barriere tossed three touchdowns to go along with his 374 yards passing against UNLV, while adding 32 yards on the ground to earn his 11th career game with over 400 yards of total offense. Rodrigues connected on 28 of 35 passes for 80% completion rate, which tops the FCS, while throwing for 311 yards and a score to lead UC Davis past Tulsa.

On defense, Welnel totaled 12 tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss, as well as a game-sealing interception in the win at Washington. Welnel and the Montana defense picked off the Huskies three times, while holding them to just seven points and 65 yards rushing.

Specialists Gomez and Buschini were each instrumental in their team's FBS victories over the weekend. Gomez connected on all four of his field goals, which tied a school record and matched his entire spring output, while accounting for 13 of the 19 points UC Davis scored in its win at Tulsa. Buschini helped flip the field for Montana in its win over Washington, averaging 47.0 yards per punt on seven attempts, forcing five fair catches, pinning three punts inside the 20 and booming a long of 58 on the day.