Santa Barbara High’s Ben Roach, whose goalkeeping propelled the Dons soccer team to a CIF title, and Joy Krupa, who led Westmont into the Golden State Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament final, have been named the Athletes of the Week.
The pair were recognized at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
Roach played a huge role for the Dons in the semifinals and finals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. He made several big saves in a 1-0 semifinal victory at Loyola in double overtime.
In the championship game against L.A. Cathedral, he blanked the Phantoms during 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods. Then, in a gut-wrenching penalty-kick shutout, the UCSB-bound Roach stopped three consecutive Cathedral shooters. The Dons converted three shots to win the title, 3-2.
Krupa played a huge role in Westmont’s GSAC Tournament semifinal win over The Master’s at Arizona Christian in Phoenix. The forward recorded a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds in a 59-50.
It was the junior’s sixth double-double of the season. She also had three assists and two blocked shots.
Krupa last week was named the GSAC’s Defensive Player of the Year.
The Warriors played Vanguard on Monday night for the tournament championship and automatic berth in the NAIA National Tournament.
The honorable mention choices for the award include Savannah Tait (San Marcos softball), Allie Jones (San Marcos track), Vincent Gonzalez (Carpinteria soccer), Stef Korfas (San Marcos basketball), Gabe Vincent (UCSB basketball), Curren Malhotra (Dos Pueblos volleyball) and Devon Cetti (Santa Barbara High track & field).
Hop Studios
You must be logged in to post a comment.