CCAC News
Posted by Dave Laketa - Fri, Nov 14, 2008 - [ Women's Soccer ] - Viewed 657 times
SXU's Nikki Grant
SXU's Nikki Grant

Stepping up when it was needed most, Saint Xavier University's Kelly Steinhaus (Lemont, Ill.) and Nikki Grant (Lemont, Ill.) delivered a 1-2 knockout punch to the top two seeded teams in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament in leading the Cougars to the league tournament crown and them personally to conference player of the week honors for the seven-day period ending Nov. 9.

Steinhaus, the CCAC offensive player of the week for the second time this year, keyed the upset of No. 8-ranked and previously-unbeaten Trinity Christian College with her pair of goals in the 4-2 semifinal-round victory on Nov. 5.

Three days later, in the title game, the sophomore forward led the Cougars with a pair of shots on goal in the 1-0 overtime victory over No. 2 seed Trinity International University.

The latter contest is where Grant, a senior goalkeeper, came up big for the Cougars to gain the league's defensive weekly honors. In place of NAIA All-America goalkeeper Danielle Wagner, Grant stopped four shots on goal in 91 minutes of the title game to record her second shutout of the season.

In the win over Trinity Christian, she better than doubled that amount with her 10 saves in 12 chances.

The tournament title for SXU (10-9-1) sets up a rematch with Trinity Christian, the regular-season CCAC champion, on Nov. 15 with the winner advancing to the NAIA national tournament, which begins on Nov. 22.