UCSB’s Beth Ritter
Consecutive shutouts to open the 2014 regular season were enough to earn junior goalkeeper Beth Ritter Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors the conference announced Monday.
The Danville, Calif. native held Cleveland State and Southern Utah scoreless in a combined 180 minutes of play. The back-to-back shutouts not only helped her team begin the season with a 2-0 record, but also gave her the ninth and 10th shutouts of her career in just 17 career starts dating to last season.
Ritter needed just two saves against Cleveland State and one against Southern Utah as UCSB recorded 3-0 and 2-0 wins respectively. Her sole save against the Thunderbirds came on a one-on-one breakaway from point blank range.
Ritter continues to shine for UCSB after having an impressive sophomore year that saw her post eight shutouts and a 0.87 goals against average. At one point last season, she had five consecutive shutouts, becoming the first goalie to do so in over two decades.
Up next for Ritter and the Gauchos are a series of road games that will see them face off at Dayton (Aug. 29), Cincinnati (Aug. 31), and Stanford (Sept. 5).
