Sept. 28, 2009

AMHERST, Mass. - UMass women's soccer freshman Emily Cota picked up a pair of honors on Monday as she was named the UMass Athlete of The Week and Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week following her stellar performance in the Minutewomen's first two conference games of the season.

Cota played the second half of UMass' 2-1 come from behind win over Saint Joseph's in its A-10 opener last Friday and made one save as she earned the victory in net, the first of her career with the Minutewomen

Then on Sunday at Duquesne in her first collegiate start, Cota tallied eight saves and logged a shutout. UMass defeated the Dukes, 1-0, to move to 2-0-0 in Atlantic 10 play, its best conference start since 2005.

Cota is currently the A-10 leader with a .909 save percentage and ranks second with a 0.59 goals against average in her 458:20 minutes of action. She is perfect in conference games with a 1.000 save percentage, a 0.00 goals against average and a 2-0-0 record.

This week's UMass Sports Luncheon will be held in the Cape Cod Room of the Student Union and will feature guest speakers football coach Kevin Morris and hockey frontman Don "Toot" Cahoon.

The Minutewomen will look to push their unbeaten streak to six this Friday, Oct. 2, when the squad will play at Saint Louis in an 8 p.m. match.