Freshman goalie Sydney Hiance has been named this week?s Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week as announced by the league office this afternoon.

Hiance, a native of Ft. Thomas, Ky., posted back-to-back shutouts for the Wildcats last week, helping UK to a 1-0 victory over Morehead State on Thursday and a 0-0 tie with No. 22 ranked Louisville on Sunday.

?This is a great honor for Sydney and we?re anxious for her to continue with her solid play,? said head coach Warren Lipka. ?We hope more players will react as she has when given an opportunity. She?s taken it and played with poise and given our team a lot of confidence with her behind them.?

Wildcat goalies rank third in the league and 17th nationally with a 0.46 goals-against-average.

Hiance received her first collegiate start against Marshall on Sept. 16 and started both matches last week, replacing injured Wildcat goalie Laura Baker.

The award is the both the first of Hiance?s collegiate career and the first for the Wildcats this season. Hiance becomes the ninth Wildcat to win a SEC weekly award and it is the 14th time a UK player has received any sort of SEC player of the week honor.

After play on the fourth weekend of the NCAA Division I women’s season, Kentucky is one of only nine teams in the country to remain unbeaten at 6-0-2.

The Wildcats opens SEC play this weekend when they travel south to Auburn and Alabama. The Cats kickoff conference play Friday night at Auburn against the Tigers followed by a Sunday afternoon tilt at Alabama against the Crimson Tide.