Kaitlyn Helfrich Captures SCIAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week Accolades

CLAREMONT, Calif. - First-year midfielder Kaitlyn Helfrich was named the SCIAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week for games through Sunday, Oct. 3, the conference office announced today.

Helfrich scored three of the five CMS goals in a 2-0 week for the Athenas. She had a second-half goal in a 3-0 win over Whittier on Wednesday and then scored both goals as the Athenas held off Caltech 2-1. She staked the Athenas to a 1-0 lead early in the contest, and then scored the winning goal midway through the second half to give CMS a six-point week as it moved to 3-1-2 in SCIAC play. 

The Athenas have now had three award winners this season, as Helfrich joins Ava Sherry and Athena Manthouli, who swept the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 13. Helfrich now leads CMS with six goals and one assist on the year, although in an odd quirk, all of her points have come on the road, including the only goal in a 1-0 win over UC Santa Cruz, and two goals and one assist in a 4-3 win over Redlands.

Helfrich will get the chance to fix that quirk this week as CMS has a pair of huge home games, meeting up with Pomona-Pitzer on Wednesday night at 7 p.m., and then meeting Cal Lutheran on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Pomona-Pitzer reached the Division III College Cup in the last season of competition in 2019, when both the Sagehens and the Athenas won NCAA Regionals and were sent to the sectional at WashU.

CMS won its NCAA regional at Cal Lutheran, after playing the Regals to a 0-0 tie and winning on penalty kicks, and that rematch will be held on Saturday night at Pritzlaff. The Athenas defeated Cal Lutheran at home in 2019 by a 1-0 final, which was a key result in earning CMS its at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.