NEW ORLEANS (JMU Athletics) – James Madison women’s soccer midfielder Lexi Vanderlinden has been named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday afternoon. The nod marks the sixth weekly conference award this season for the Dukes.

The honor comes on the heels of another stellar week of play for JMU, who is riding a seven-game unbeaten streak and has begun conference play 5-0-1. Against Georgia State on Wednesday, Vanderlinden provided the assist on freshmen forward Ginny Lackey’s game-winning goal in the 1-0 victory. It was her conference-leading sixth assist on the season, putting the Seminole, Florida native in sole possession of 11th place in the all-time program rankings for career assists (21).

Vanderlinden then followed the win by grabbing her second career brace in a 3-1 win over Georgia Southern in Statesboro on Sunday. After the Eagles equalized the match at 1-1 in the 63rd minute, Soleil Flores began a sequence to find Jordan Yang who delivered a perfect pass to Vanderlinden in the box to retake the lead in the 71st minute. Six minutes later, she met another pass from Yang in the box to give JMU the insurance to close out the win on the road.

In addition to the conference recognition, Vanderlinden also earned Honorable Mention on TopDrawerSoccer’s National Team of the Week this morning, along with fellow Captain Jordan Yang.

JMU returns to action on Oct. 17th when it welcomes App State to Sentara Park. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

— JMU Athletics —