BATON ROUGE — LSU soccer player Mandy Heintz continued to make history on Tuesday, as she was named the Southeastern Conference’s Player of the Week announced by the SEC office in Birmingham, Ala.
With the prestigious honor, Heintz became the first LSU soccer player to be named SEC Player of the Week. Last week, she tied a six-year school record by scoring four goals against Loyola (N.O.).
“This is an outstanding accomplishment for not only Mandy, but for our entire soccer program,” said LSU head coach George Fotopoulos. “Any time you have a player recognized by one of the toughest conference’s in the nation, it shows that your team is on the right path. She’s been playing some excellent soccer for us lately, but it’s been an entire team effort.”
LSU’s forward from San Antonio, Texas, recorded eight goals in three games last week, as the Tigers earned shutout victories over Loyola (N.O.), Louisiana-Monroe and Nicholls State. Heintz has scored a third of LSU’s total goals this season as the Tigers have outscored the opposition 24-2 in six games.
During last week’s three-game homestand, LSU outscored its opponents 20-0, outshot the opposition 127-49 and accumulated 55 points. The Tigers were led by Heintz’ performances as she tied a school record against Loyola (N.O.) on Wednesday by scoring four goals. She accomplished the feat in the first 21 minutes of the contest and sat out the final 65 minutes.
“We’re just playing really well as a team,” Fotopoulos said. “Mandy’s scoring a lot of the goals, but our other offensive players are doing a great job of setting her up. Most people think of scoring as an individual effort, but in reality it takes the entire team to work together in order to score goals.”
The LSU record for goals in a season is held by former Tiger great Jackie Cooper. She accumulated a total of 25 goals during the 1996 season. Cooper accomplished the feat in 19 games, averaging roughly 1.3 goals per game.
Heintz has already scored 10 goals in six games and is averaging 1.67 goals per game.
SEC Player of the Week
Mandy Heintz, LSU
F – Jr. – San Antonio, Texas (Winston Churchill HS)
– Scored eight goals in three games.
– Turned in a four-goal performance followed by a pair of two-goal outings.
– Accumulated 17 points this week with eight goals and an assist.
– Set school records against Loyola (N.O.) by earning a hat trick in the opening 12:55 and by scoring four goals in the first half.
– Tied LSU’s all-time mark of four goals in one game.
– Helped the Tigers outscore their opponents 20-0 in three shutout victories over in-state rivals.
– LSU’s season leader in goals (10), points (21) and game-winning goals (4).