Cavanaugh Earns Third NEC Defensive Player Weekly Honor

The Northeast Conference chose Central Connecticut women's soccer senior goal keeper Ashley Cavanaugh as the NEC Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the league's office on Tuesday afternoon. 

Cavanaugh, a three-time NEC Defensive Player of the Week winner, registered her 11th shutout of the season in a 1-0 win over Saint Francis U. She now holds the program record for most shutouts in a single season. The record was previously held by Ashley Ferra who recorded 10 shutouts in 2005.

The senior goalkeeper made a diving save off a penalty kick in the 39th minute to keep the match scoreless in the first half.  CCSU ended up scoring later in the second frame as Cavanaugh finished with six stops to seal the deal on an undefeated season in NEC play. The Belchertown, MA product posted her third consecutive clean sheet to end the regular season, propelling her to No. 3 in the nation with 11 clean sheets on the year. Cavanaugh leads the NEC with a 0.48 GAA and .886 save percentage heading into the postseason for the top-seeded Blue Devils.

Central will host the Northeast Conference Tournament as the number one seed and will play the fourth-seed Fairleigh Dickinson at 1 p.m. on Friday Nov. 2 in New Britain, CT.