NYU women’s soccer senior forward and co-captain Cami Crawford was awarded Disney Soccer/National Soccer Coach Association of America DIII National Player of the Week on Tuesday after her tremendous four-goal performance on Sunday, Nov. 2 when NYU beat Washington University in St. Louis by a score of 4-3.

“It’s always exciting to be recognized. It means a lot to get player of the week,” Crawford said.

Crawford is a CAS senior who is pursuing a double major in journalism and psychology, and she hails from El Dorado Hills, California. She was awarded NYU Female Freshman Athlete of the Year and led the Violets in goals scored during the 2011 season.

The Violets have a record of 11-5, and with a solid defense and goaltending by Cassie Steinberg, the Violets are able to be consistently on the attack and maintain the majority of possession. This season has been a big improvement record-wise over the last two years. Crawford believes their success is due to a more established and developed team.

“The team has matured under the direction of our coaches in the last four years,” Crawford said. “We’ve definitely improved every year since I got here. I think we have just been better at implementing our game plan. We have a lot of returners so we started at a different level than we were previously able to and the new players picked up the information very quickly.”

This is the second weekly title for Crawford and adds to her many other accolades, such as her two Second Team All-UAA Honors in her sophomore and junior years, and an honorable mention from the UAA in her freshman year. Crawford leads the Violets in goals scored, points and game-winning goals this season. She is also tied for most goals in the UAA and is fourth in points.

This was the first time the Violets were able to defeat Washington University in St. Louis since 2011, and Crawford’s four-goal game marked a career high and her first hat-trick.

“They had three people in their back line,” Crawford said. “We had even numbers and were able to take advantage of their gamble. The midfielders did a great job finding the gaps and playing the through ball.”

Crawford is also setting school records. Her four-goal performance tied the program’s best single-game goal scoring record. In addition, her 74 career points, 32 career goals and 13 game-winning goals are all NYU records. Despite accolades, Crawford doesn’t forget those who helped her get to this point.

“I attribute all of this success to the hard work my teammates and I put into practice every single day,” Crawford said. “They’ve set a level of competitiveness that I have to match and so it’s great to see all of our hard work recognized.”

Freshman forward Teressa Fazio lauded Crawford’s leadership on and off the field.

“Cami is a great person and player for all of us to look up to,” Fazio said. “She is really composed in front of the goal. She is always working hard and she always brings a high level of intensity to whatever she does. We all love playing with her and learning from her.”

The Violets will be back in action to close out the regular season when they play Brandeis University at Gaelic Park, New York for Senior Day on Nov. 8.

Email Kyle Luther at [email protected].