ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell junior defender Cecily Pokigo has been named the Ivy League's Defensive Player of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday afternoon.

Pokigo played an integral role in Cornell's pair of victories this past week over Marist and Syracuse, as she played in all 180 minutes and guided the Big Red defense to conceding just 11 shot attempts and three shots on goal.

With the honor, Pokigo is Cornell's first non-attacking player to garner a weekly award from the Ivy League since goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney shared Player of the Week honors with Dartmouth's Lucille Kozlov on Sept. 14, 2015.

Thanks to Pokigo and other members of the Big Red's back line, Cornell's defense has been staunch to begin the year, yielding an average of 7.7 shots allowed per match and just two shots on goal allowed per contest.

Cornell, who owns a 2-0-1 record so far on the year, will return to action on Sunday when it travels to Western New York to take on Buffalo. First touch between the Big Red and Bulls from UB Stadium is slated for 1 p.m. Game action of Sunday's contest can be viewed live on YouTube.