Sanderson Proving To Be A Freshman Sharpshooter

It hasn’t taken Valerie Sanderson long to make a statement at the collegiate level playing for the Memphis Tigers.

The Canadian freshman from Quebec became the first player in American Athletic Conference history to repeat as Offensive Player of the Week, after leading Memphis to a pair of wins over Florida Gulf Coast and Florida Atlantic.

Sanderson scored three goals in those games and assisted on another. Tha[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]t pushed the Tigers’ record to 7-2, with those losses coming at the hands of two SEC opponents, Vanderbilt and Mississippi.

Sanderson is as good as advertised, and is proving to be an excellent recruiting coup for Memphis head coach Brooks Monaghan.

Sanderson has represented Canada at both the Under-17 and Under-20 levels. She scored a goal for Canada at the 2012 FIFA U17 World Cup in Azerbaijan.

Sanderson was also named conference Offensive Player of the Week in early September. Now with 18 points on the season, she has already climbed to fifth among freshman scoring marks in program history. Her eight goals leads the league.

Sanderson scored the game-winner against Florida Gulf Coast in the 85th minute, giving the Tigers a 2-1 win over the Eagles. FGCU entered the game riding a six-game unbeaten streak.

“I didn’t feel we were playing well at the end, but (Nugene) Nugent got wide and beat some defenders,” Monaghan said about the winning goal. “She served a great ball to Valerie and she was able to finish. We hope that give Valerie some confidence going into Sunday.”

Must have worked because Sanderson scored two and added an assist in the 4-0 win over FAU.

After a 3-0 loss to Ole Miss, the Tigers have rebounded with wins over the two Florida programs, setting up a trip to Louisville on Sept. 27 to play the Louisville Cardinals. From this point on it will be all games against American Athletic Conference opponents.