Smyrna High soccer player Desiree Zapata was voted this week’s State News Athlete of the Week. The freshman scored five of the Eagles’ six goals in Henlopen North wins over Polytech and Cape Henlopen last week. She also added two goals and an assist in a win over Lake Forest to give her seven goals and an assist for the week.

With 28 goals and seven assists this spring, Zapata has already broken the school record for goals in a season. It took Zapata just 30 seconds into her varsity career to score her first goal in Smyrna’s season-opening victory over Indian River.

“Desiree has had an outstanding freshman season so far,” said Smyrna coach Mike Osborne. “She is an encouraging teammate and has a truly respectful attitude.”

The Athlete of the Week is nominated and chosen by our readers. The nominating period starts at 2 p.m. on Friday and ends at noon on Monday. A voting period follows from 5 p.m. Monday through 5 p.m. Wednesday.

This process is performed exclusively online. When nominating an athlete, please include name, school and sport as well as a photo and brief description of why he or she deserves that week’s honor.

All nominations must be high school varsity athletes and come from high schools within Kent or Sussex counties. The winner appears in print each Friday.