KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Only two freshmen across the Division I landscape can say that they won a NSCAA National Player of the Week award this season, one of those select few is Fairfield University’s Jenny Jacobs.
After becoming the first Stag in seven years to record a hat trick, Jacobs has received the rare honor of being named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) National Player of the Week. Jacobs is the first Stag ever to receive this award, and the first player in the MAAC since at least 2006. She is also the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week.
“It’s unreal,” Jacobs said. “I worked so hard to get where I am now and it’s really nice to be acknowledged for that hard work.”
“This honor is tremendous for both Jenny and our program,” Head Coach Jim O’Brien said. “To be considered to have had such a strong offensive performance speak volumes about Jenny’s production against Saint Peter’s.”
In the match that will define her freshman season, Jacobs scored three goals in a 29-minute span starting with a score in the second minute that would end up being her first career game-winner. The rookie became the first Stag since 1996 to notch a hat trick in a single half.
“It does mean a lot to me,” Jacobs said. “I think it’s funny that the last one to do it in a single half was from the year I was born, so it’s kind of coincidental.”
These numbers and this award just show the final results. But there has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes for Jacobs. In her first 10 games, Jacobs was having trouble finishing in front of the goal, attempting 26 shots but not tallying a goal.
“After every practice I would stay after with Ross Sride and Coach Stuart Dick.” Jacobs said. “Stuart would videotape me shooting and show me exactly where I was hitting it wrong and how to do it better. We worked with the wall even to just try and get better. It paid off.”
Did it ever.
In the nine games after, Jacobs has scored all six of her goals, leading the team in that category. All six of her scores have come in conference play, tying her for second in the MAAC for conference goals.
“In the beginning of the year I was overthinking a lot,” Jacobs said. “I was like ‘oh my gosh, I’m finally in the game, I’m so nervous.’ Once I finally got one in, it was a lot easier and less frantic every time I got the ball.”
The freshman is now having her talent recognized among the nation’s best. Of the previous 13-players to receive this weekly honor, four played for teams currently ranked in the top-25. Jacobs also becomes just the third player on the East Coast to win this weekly award this season (joining Boston College’s McKenzie Meehan and Rutgers’ Casey Murphy). The highlight among previous award winners is Sydney Leroux who won the award in 2010 while playing at UCLA.
That is the company that Jacobs is now part of.
“In the game I definitely got better at being more confident and taking players on,” Jacobs said. “Also I learned that sometimes that even no matter how hard you work, some stuff just don’t fall in your favor but you just have to keep working no matter what.”
And when it does fall in your favor, the results start to show.