Junior goalkeeper Courtney Clem runs towards the crowd before the Sept. 5, 2013, match at DeMartin Stadium. The Spartans tied the Grizzlies, 1-1, after playing two scoreless overtime periods. Khoa Nguyen/ The State News
—In addition to two road wins against San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton, Courtney Clem returned to East Lansing on Monday with another resume builder — the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award.
The redshirt senior goaltender recorded 13 saves in Friday night’s season opening 3-1 win at San Diego State. She followed up her terrific performance with four saves in a 1-0 shutout against Cal State Fullerton on Sunday.
“She maybe played the best game of her career to this point,” Head Coach Tom Saxton said of Clem’s play in the season opener in a release from the team.
Clem previously won the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award in September 2011, following her first two career victories and a shutout against Bowling Green. The last Spartan to be honored as Big Ten Player of the Week was Annie Steinlage, who was named Defensive Player of the Week in September 2012. Clem has now ended this two-year drought in just the first weekend of the regular season.
Clem has a career save percentage of .766 and this past weekend posted a .944 save percentage.
Clem, a product of Williamston, Mich., has played in 36 games for the Spartans. In 2012, she posted four shutouts for the team. Last year, she opened the season with a shutout victory over Buffalo, and recorded one more against Minnesota later in Big Ten play.
Saxton has said that Clem has worked extremely hard over the past few years to get where she is at now. This hard work has paid off, and Clem has been a consistent force for MSU so far.
“She’s been very steady for us these last few games. She did another great job of organizing the team and made big stops when she was tested,” Saxton said in a release.
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