Sept. 6, 2011

ELMHURST, Ill. - Oakland University's Payj O'Shea earned Summit League Player of the Week honors, announced by the league office on Tuesday. The sophomore goalkeeper recorded 12 saves for the week, including a penalty-kick save in a shutout win over Eastern Michigan on Sunday.

"It's great that the team earned the shutout win over Eastern Michigan," said head coach Nick O'Shea. "Payj made a couple of key saves that were instrumental in preserving the shutout and the lead, especially the penalty kick save, which was a huge momentum swing in our favor."

O'Shea recorded six saves against Eastern Michigan, to earn her first shutout of the season. After Oakland converted a penalty to take the lead, O'Shea stopped an Eastern Michigan penalty attempt by diving to her right, managing to hold on to the ball to avoid giving up a rebound. Minutes later she made another fine save to preserve the Oakland lead.

Earlier in the week, O'Shea posted six saves against a the potent offense of Michigan State. She limited the Spartans to their lowest scoring total of the season in the 1-0 loss and kept Laura Heyboer from scoring for the first time all year.

Over the course of the week O'Shea saved 12 of 13 shots for a .923 save percentage. She also allowed just one goal in two matches for a 0.50 goals-against average. It is the first time that O'Shea has claimed the league's top weekly defensive honor in her career.

O'Shea and the Golden Grizzlies return to action on Friday, when they host California - Santa Barbara (UCSB) at the OU Soccer Field at 7 p.m.

-OAKLAND-