Nickel Tabbed Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week
October 14, 2026 01:00 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After helping the Mountaineers earn their second ranked win of the season, junior forward/defender Sophia Nickel of the No. 12-ranked West Virginia University women's soccer team has been named the Big 12 Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week, as announced by the league on Wednesday.
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Nickel's honor marks her second of the season, after she was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Aug. 26. Nickel becomes the first Mountaineer to earn two player of the week nods in the same season since Jordan Brewster was tabbed the defensive player of the week twice in 2022. Furthermore, she's the first WVU player to repeat as an offensive player of the week since 2020-21.
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A native of Golden, Colorado, Nickel scored her sixth and seventh goals of the year with her first career brace in a 2-0 win over No. 20 BYU on Oct. 8. The first goal of the night marked her sixth game winner of the season, which leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks second in the NCAA. Her two-goal performance was the first of her career and marked the first brace for a Mountaineer since Nov. 14, 2025.
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Nickel leads the Mountaineers in goals and points (15), while she ranks fifth in the Big 12 in goals per game (0.58). Nickel's performance against BYU helped West Virginia secure its second top-25 win of the season, marking WVU's first season with multiple wins over a top-25 team since 2022.
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Up next, the Mountaineers cap a three-game homestand when they welcome UCF to Morgantown on Friday, Oct. 16. The match is part of a double header with the WVU men's soccer team, and kickoff at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
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For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUWomensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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Nickel's honor marks her second of the season, after she was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Aug. 26. Nickel becomes the first Mountaineer to earn two player of the week nods in the same season since Jordan Brewster was tabbed the defensive player of the week twice in 2022. Furthermore, she's the first WVU player to repeat as an offensive player of the week since 2020-21.
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A native of Golden, Colorado, Nickel scored her sixth and seventh goals of the year with her first career brace in a 2-0 win over No. 20 BYU on Oct. 8. The first goal of the night marked her sixth game winner of the season, which leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks second in the NCAA. Her two-goal performance was the first of her career and marked the first brace for a Mountaineer since Nov. 14, 2025.
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Nickel leads the Mountaineers in goals and points (15), while she ranks fifth in the Big 12 in goals per game (0.58). Nickel's performance against BYU helped West Virginia secure its second top-25 win of the season, marking WVU's first season with multiple wins over a top-25 team since 2022.
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For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUWomensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
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