KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Park University senior goal keeper Megan Newland has been named NAIA Women’s Soccer National Player of the Week after a pair of weekend wins over NCAA Division I competition. Newland’s honor was announced Monday by the NAIA national headquarters in Kansas City, a day after she was named MCAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Newland helped Park improve its record to 5-1-2 on the season by shutting out North Dakota Friday, 1-0, and Sunday, Newland beat South Dakota 3-1 by shutting out the Coyotes for more than 88 minutes. She posted 15 saves on the week, averaging five per game after also playing the final 5:10 of Park’s 2-1 loss to Graceland.

For the week, Newland tallied 185 minutes in the net, earning two decisions to push her record to 2-0-0 on the season.

The national award is the first for the Pirates since Oct. 10, 2005, when then-sophomore forward Maria Ruiz was named NAIA Women’s Soccer National Player of the Week for the week ending on Oct. 9. The award also comes on the same day that Park’s Tazou Ali Tagba was named NAIA Men’s Soccer National Offensive Player of the Week, marking the first time in school history that two Pirates have earned national weekly recognition on the same day.

In 2007-08, Park had three national players of the week – two in men’s basketball and one in baseball.

Newland was honored by the NAIA in addition to Southern Nazarene’s Rachel Eguren, a 5-7, sophomore forward from Houston, Texas, who continued her scoring trend this season after tallying 13 points in two matches last week to earn the NAIA’s offensive award.

For the Pirates, play continues in the 2008 schedule Wednesday, taking on Kansas Wesleyan University at Julian Field, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.