Saint Mary's senior defender Molly Silva earned her first career West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week award, the conference announced Monday, Oct. 12.
Silva, a Sacramento native, delivered both ends of the 1-0 result at Portland on Saturday, Oct. 10. She made a goal-line clearance in the 25th minute to preserve a scoreless match. Later in the first half, she headed in the game-winner off a Natalie Mejia corner kick, slotting the ball into the bottom right corner.
It was her third goal of the season. She entered the year with just one goal across her first three collegiate seasons and now has three on the season.
Silva logged 180 minutes across two matches during the award week and leads the Gaels with 1,242 minutes played in 2026. She was one of three defenders, along with Aleiyah Schexnayder and Taylor Farnum, who each played all 90 minutes in the Portland shutout. It was Farnum's first 90-minute match of her collegiate career.
The win gave Saint Mary's its first WCC road victory of the season and its first win at Portland's Merlo Field since 2021, according to the Gaels athletics department. The shutout was the team's tenth of 2026, making the Gaels one of two programs nationally to reach double-digit shutouts, joining Auburn, according to Saint Mary's Athletics.
The defensive identity has been a season-long theme. Gaels captain Anna Emperador said in a Sept. 1 preview on the athletics site that "every block, clearance and recovery run are treated just as important as scoring a goal."
Silva's award is the program's fifth WCC Defensive Player of the Week honor this season. Goalkeeper Kate Plachy has won it twice, with Soraya Souvanaphong and Emperador each earning it once. Plachy recorded two saves and her conference-high sixth shutout in the Portland match, bringing her career total to 156 saves.
The Gaels bounced back from a 1-0 home loss to LMU on Wednesday, Oct. 7, that snapped a 20-match home unbeaten streak. Saint Mary's returns to Moraga on Saturday, Oct. 17, to host San Diego at 3 p.m. on Alumni Weekend. The match will stream on ESPN+.
