CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The weekly awards keep rolling in for the Highlanders as they continue their unbeaten streak to begin the 2017 season. Junior midfielder Jasmine Casarez has been named Big South Attacking Player of the Week and goalkeeper Lexi Dean has been named Big South Freshman of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon.
 
Casarez turned in her best week of the season, scoring one goal in Radford's 4-1 home victory over ETSU before netting both of the Highlanders' goals in a 2-1 win at Mount St. Mary's. The attacking midfielder was a constant driving force for Radford, taking a combined 16 shots and six shots on goal across those two games.
 
She now leads the Highlanders and the Big South in multiple categories including goals with six through six games. That also ranks tied for fourth in the nation. The Moreno Valley, Calif. native is one of the most talented midfielders in the conference and that talent has shown through this season, helping Radford stay perfect at 6-0-0.
 
Dean started in goal for Radford's win over ETSU, making seven saves and allowing only one goal on 11 shots faced. She then started in the Highlanders' road win at Mount St. Mary's, making six saves and allowing one goal against a season-high 16 shots faced. She has allowed only seven goals and made 35 saves on 74 shots faced this season en route to a perfect 5-0-0 record between the sticks in her first collegiate season.
 
"We had two great team wins this week," said head coach Ben Sohrabi. "I'm happy for Jasmine and Lexi, but we had many great performances from a variety of players that stepped up this week. We as a team need to continue to improve and use our success as momentum."
 
Including these two honors, Radford women's soccer has now garnered six weekly awards through four weeks. Casarez earns her first weekly conference award since Oct. 3, 2016 following a stellar three-goal week for the Highlanders. Dean was also named Freshman of the Week on August 28^th after posting a shutout with four saves in a win against Chattanooga.
 
Other Highlanders to win awards this season include Gabi Paupst (Freshman, Aug. 21^st), Allyson Giannone (Defender, Aug. 21^st) and Jessica Wollmann (Attacking, Sept. 5^th)
 
Casarez, Dean and the rest of the squad hit the road this Friday, Sept. 15^th for the second of three consecutive road games when they take on VMI at 4 p.m.
 
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