Oct. 16, 2006
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Goaltender Elizabeth Thomas (Wakefield, R.I.) earned the Northeast Conference Player of the Week award after helping the Fairfield University field hockey team post two double-overtime victories last weekend. The wins pushed the Stags back into the NEC tournament race, with a berth going to the top four teams in the final regular-season standings.
Thomas started the week by making nine saves against Quinnipiac University, as the Stags started the weekend with an upset of the fourth-place Bobcats. The junior allowed just one goal in the game in 86-plus minutes of action.
She was even more impressive in Fairfield's 2-1 victory over Sacred Heart University, making a season-high 15 saves in just over 94 minutes of work. The Pioneers were ranked first in the conference for scoring offense with four goals per game, but were shut down by Thomas and her teammates.
For the week, Thomas owned a 0.77 goals against average with 24 saves in 180 minutes. She lowered her goals against average for the season (2.13) and raised her save percentage (.776) with the two-game effort. Thomas has 114 saves to her credit this season, which breaks down to 7.1 saves per game.
The field hockey team, under head coach Jackie Kane, returns to action this weekend by hosting St. Francis, Pa. on Friday and conference-leader Lock Haven on Sunday. The team will honor the senior class on Sunday, the team's last regular-season home game for 2006.
