UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Super striker Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) reaped the rewards of an outstanding offensive display capturing the Big Ten’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week honor as well as being named TopDrawerSoccer.com’s National Player of the Week on Monday. Hayes has won two consecutive Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week awards.
Hayes, who was named the Pitt Soccer Classic’s Most Valuable Player, scored five goals and an assist in two games as Penn State (5-1-0) defeated N.C. State, 3-1, and Pittsburgh, 3-0. The sophomore forward was involved in each goal during the weekend as she tallied a marker in the fifth consecutive match dating back to Aug. 21 vs. Nevada.
Hayes scored her first career hat trick against Pittsburgh, her third multi-goal game in four efforts. Hayes also reached the net twice in wins over then-No. 17 West Virginia and N.C. State. The hat trick was the 20th in Penn State history and the first since Tani Costa’s (Honolulu, Hawaii) three-goal showing against Indiana (Oct. 28, 2010).
Hayes has been on a roll, scoring nine goals in five matches, eight of which have come in the past four matches. Hayes leads the Big Ten in scoring (19 points) and goals (9) and shared this week’s award in the Big Ten with Nebraska’s Morgan Marlborough. Marlborough scored five times and had two assists in wins over Arkansas and Northern Arizona.
