Gee-Gees’ Morton, Golden Hawks’ Okpali earn OUA Athlete of the Week honours
Burlington, Ont. – Mikayla Morton and Glorious Okpali have been named Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Athletes of the Week for the period ending September 8, 2019.
Female Athlete of the Week – Mikayla Morton, Ottawa Gee-Gees, Soccer
Fourth-year Ottawa Gee-Gees forward Mikayla Morton had a dynamic offensive week for the Gee-Gees, racking up six goals in three games for the reigning champion squad.
Morton, who scored nine goals last season after transferring from the University of Memphis, has been out to an incredible start in the 2019 season. Her hat trick against Carleton in the Gee-Gees home opener kicked off the week on Wednesday in a big way against their cross-town rivals. Morton started the scoring less than three minutes into the game, but after Carleton knotted things up later in the half, the fourth-year forward was able to power her team to victory with two more goals in the second 45.
On Saturday in a 1-1 draw with the Toronto Varsity Blues, Morton opened up the game’s scoring once again with her team’s lone goal to secure the point and did so with the program’s 1,000th tally all-time. To cap off her productive week, Morton netted two more goals in a 3-0 win over Trent.
Morton currently sits tied for first in the OUA in goals through the first two weeks of the season.
Male Athlete of the Week – Glorious Okpali, Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, Soccer
The week didn’t get off on the best foot for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, but thanks in large part to Glorious Okpali, it ended with a massive win for the men’s soccer program against a nationally-ranked rival.
Okpali, much like the rest of his Hawks squad, were unable to muster much against the strong Guelph Gryphons team, but the second-year forward was instrumental in their second tough test of the week against the Western Mustangs. Okpali registered four shots – three on target – and came away with a pair of goals for his efforts. His first such result came in the first half to tie the game at 1-1, while his second unassisted tally of the night came on the other side of the break to give his side the 2-1 lead.
It wasn’t just on the offensive side of the ball that Okpali shone; however, as the political science major put in a tireless performance on defence as well, according to his head coach Mario Halapir. The two goals come just one shy of his rookie total from all of 2018 (3), while the victory already matches Laurier’s output from a year ago.
