Sandman Player of the Month: Odinga's elite two-way play made the difference for Griffins
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – After playing all but 18 minutes in seven October games for the Griffins women's soccer team, locking down her side of the field in all of them, fullback Anneke Odinga has been named the Sandman October Player of the Month.
As the top student-athlete across all MacEwan sports in October, Odinga has won a free night's stay at the Sandman Signature Downtown Edmonton hotel.
Odinga completed the 2024 season with three goals and six points in 14 games, finishing as the second-highest scoring defender in Canada West.
For her efforts, she was named to the conference's first all-star team for the third year in a row, becoming the first Griffins student-athlete in any sport to accomplish that feat.
"When you're constantly being regarded as an all-star by fellow coaches in the conference, it show what an elite talent you are," said Griffins head coach Dean Cordeiro. "I'm just proud of Anneke and everything she's done for our team.
"And to think, the one year that she didn't get any of those accolades was her rookie season when she was our starting right back on a team that won a national championship."
During the month of October, Odinga scored her third PK goal of the season – in a 4-0 win over Winnipeg on Oct. 5 – which set a new program record for the most PKs in a single season in the program's Canada West era.
Anneke Odinga launches a penalty kick against Winnipeg on Oct. 5. She scored her third PK of the season to set a new program record (Norman Bo photo).
When you factor in her tremendous defensive impact for the team, which helped lead the Griffins to a 4-1-2 record in October, Odinga is a very worthy recipient of the Player of the Month honour.
"We're talking about one of the top defensive players in our conference," said Cordeiro. "She's just elite at what she does … with her speed, her ability to serve balls in, join the attack, create, score. She's gotten a lot of our second assists this year as well. You see what teams are trying to do to slow her down and she still makes an impact in every game she plays. It's pretty remarkable.
"When you go on the defensive side of things, typically, her side is locked down. Not many opportunities are being created from her side. What she's able to do 1v1 defending, intercepting balls, those ground duels, aerial battles … she's a special talent.
"It's just a pleasure to work with her day in and day out."
