Honolulu—Sophomore forward Kayla Ryan can add another achievement to her 2019-2020 campaign as she was named the Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Monday.
 
Ryan played the role of hero for the Rainbow Wahine on Thursday in a 2-1 overtime victory over conference foe CSUN. Ryan scored her first career goal in the 52nd minute, tying the match at 1-1 off an assist from sophomore midfielder Morgan Meza. Later on, in the opening moments of extra time, Ryan struck again, netting her first-career game-winner in the 92nd minute. Ryan trailed back from senior forward Kayla Watanabe after a long pass from sophomore defender Elana Palacios. Watanabe found Ryan slashing upfield and connected with her teammate on a backward pass where Ryan deposited the ball past the diving goalkeeper.
 
Her stellar play, along with the strong defense by UH, led the program to its first-ever Big West Conference opening win since joining in 2012.
 
Ryan's weekly offensive award is the first this season for UH, and the second weekly award overall as senior goalkeeper Alexis Mata was named Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week back on Sept. 2. A year ago, Raisa Strom-Okimoto claimed the honor twice, leading to her eventual player of the year award.
 
UH will be in action this Thursday with UC Irvine visiting the island of O'ahu for a 7 pm HT matchup. Spectrum Sports will broadcast the match along with the other two remaining home matches of the season.