Iowa State sophomore defender Ella Zimmerman was recognized amongst this week’s list of the Big 12 women’s soccer top performers. The award comes after this week’s competition against Northern Iowa. 

Before Sunday’s game against the Panthers, Zimmerman had no recorded stats. In the 48th minute of Sunday’s game, she earned her first career assist by passing to Hannah Shaw, allowing her to score in the 48th minute and scoring her first career goal in the 68th minute. She was the third Cyclone to earn her first career goal in that game, according a post on the team’s X account. 

Zimmerman led the defensive efforts against the Panthers, contributing to the Cyclones’ dominating 6-1 performance after she missed the matchup against Drake on Thursday. Six total goals were successful out of the 13 shots on goal and 20 total shot attempts. 

Goals by Zimmerman (1), Seulgi Lee (1), Hannah Shaw (2), Isabella Agrusso (1), and Morgan Furmaniak (1) all contributed to the high-scoring affair.

A Vanderbilt transfer, Zimmerman appeared in seven games for the Commodores last season. She totaled 379 minutes in seven games before joining the Cyclones this season.

Zimmerman was recognized alongside Baylor forward Callie Conrad, Colorado goalkeeper Jordan Nytes and Oklahoma State forward Bella Pierotti.

Iowa State will travel to Memphis for its next game at 8 p.m. Sunday. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.