Pair of clean sheets help Justin secure Mountain West Defense Player of the Week

HONOLULU – The leader of the “No Goal Patrol” keeps powering up.

University of Hawai’i junior goalkeeper Kennedy Justin was named the Mountain West’s Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after helping the Rainbow Wahine soccer team extend its winning streak to five straight games over the weekend.

Justin and the Rainbow Wahine picked up two more clean sheets on the most recent road trip, holding San Jose State scoreless on Thursday in a 2-0 victory before escaping UC Davis with a 1-0 decision on Sunday.

The junior posted a pair of saves against the Spartans, turning away both shots on frame by SJSU. She followed it up three days later at Davis with her second-most saves in a single match this year, collecting seven saves against the Aggies for the team’s eighth shutout of the season.

Justin became the third different goalkeeper in the conference to receive Defensive Player of the Week recognition, joining Wyoming senior GK Haley Bartel (3x) and Colorado College senior GK Regan Wallace. She’s also the third different Rainbow Wahine player to earn Mountain West honors this season, joining Olivia Dianda (Freshman of the Week, Aug. 24) and Pana’ewa Cayetano (Freshman of the Week, Sept. 7).

Hawai’i was the lone team in the conference to play multiple matches last week and not give up a goal. Justin’s seven clean sheets in 13 games ranks second-most among all goal keepers in the Mountain West, trailing Wyoming’s Haley Bartel’s eight shutouts across 15 matches.

The Rainbow Wahine will put the five-game win streak on the line when they return home on Saturday, October 24 to host Grand Canyon. The Lopes are riding a two-match win streak of their own and rank second in the conference with 228 shots as a team this year.