Cal Poly women’s soccer player Chelsea Barry earns national goal of the week honors

Cal Poly sophomore Chelsea Barry’s free kick against UC Santa Barbara was selected as the national goal of the week by the popular website TopDrawerSoccer.com on Wednesday.

Barry, a center back from Danville, hammered home a free kick in the 82nd minute to help the Mustangs earn a 1-1 draw with the rival Gauchos in a Big West Conference match at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. She received 58 percent of the 11,167 votes in the website’s public poll.

Barry’s 6,437 votes held up against Notre Dame’s Jennifer Westendorf, who garnered more than 4,500 votes for her free kick against North Carolina.

Cal Poly (6-8-2 overall, 1-3-1 Big West) will be back in action at 7 p.m. Friday when the Mustangs go to UC Irvine.

Breakers bring back Krieghoff

Former Cal Poly women’s soccer star Elise Krieghoff had her contract optioned by the Boston Breakers of the National Women’s Soccer League on Wednesday, meaning she will return for a second professional season in 2017.

Boston exercised contract options for 13 players, declined options on six more and are reportedly in discussions with three others. The Breakers finished last in the 10-team league this season with a 3-15-2 overall record. They were outscored by 33 goals in 20 games.

Krieghoff, Cal Poly’s school-record holder with 52 career goals, played 143 minutes in six regular season matches. She scored her first career goal Sept. 11 against the Houston Dash.

Fellow 2015 graduated Alyssa Giannetti also is nearing the end of her first professional season. The standout goalkeeper has started all 20 matches for Norway’s Arna-Bjørnar FC, which is 6-11-3 with two games remaining.

The Mustangs’ career saves leader with 380 stops, Giannetti has record six shutouts during her rookie campaign.

This story was originally published October 19, 2016 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Cal Poly women’s soccer player Chelsea Barry earns national goal of the week honors."