Colorado’s Hope Leyba and TCU’s Seven Castain shared Big 12 soccer’s offensive weekly honors, while BYU’s Avery Frischknecht secured the weekly defensive award as Baylor’s Azul Alvarez and the Cougars’ Paiton Collins were tabbed the league’s best goalkeepers of the week. UCF freshman Gabi Berchon rounded out this week’s honors.
Leyba tallied 10 points last week as the Buffaloes earned wins against Fordham and UNC Greensboro. The junior posted the first hat trick of her career against the Rams and then ended the week with her first career brace against the Spartans. Leyba has scored in all three matches for Colorado this season, tying for the nation’s lead in total points (14) and goals (7).
Castain collected her second career Big 12 soccer weekly award after helping the Horned Frogs to their first win over a top-10 team since 2021. On the road at No. 9/7 Iowa, she scored the last two goals to secure TCU’s 3-2 victory. Her two-goal performance pushed her to No. 5 in TCU’s scoring history with 26.
Frischknecht and the Cougar backline were able to secure a top-25 win at South Field after shutting out then-ranked No. 4/4 UCLA 1-0 last week. BYU held the Bruins to three shots on goal on 19 shot attempts. Frischknecht played all 90 minutes on the field and also recorded two shot attempts in the match. This is her second career Big 12 honor, previously earning a defensive weekly honor last season.
Alvarez and the Bears went 2-0 on the road, facing Denver and Montana during the Rumble in the Rockies tournament. The senior captured six saves while playing all possible minutes in goal for Baylor. Her four saves against Denver were crucial as the score was deadlocked 0-0 at the final horn, marking her first shutout of the season. She then held Montana scoreless to keep Baylor undefeated going into the third week of the season.
Collins marked her first collegiate shutout at home as the Cougars UCLA scoreless. During the top-25 matchup, she tallied three saves and played all 90 minutes in the net. The win helped the Cougars collect their second win over a ranked opponent this season. Collins is the second BYU goalkeeper to earn the league’s weekly award for keepers since joining the Conference during the 2023 season.
Berchon played a big role in the Knights’ 2-1 win over LSU to remain undefeated at 4-0-0 to start the 2025 campaign. She found the net early, scoring in the fifth minute. With the game tied 1-1, the redshirt freshman’s quick reflexes tapped in the game-winning goal with 11 seconds left after the Tigers’ goalkeeper blocked a shot from her and another Knight.