College roundup: SUNY Potsdam's Thompson claims Player of Week award for second straight time
Apr. 29—POTSDAM — Former Salmon River athlete Saka Thompson on Monday was named the Defensive Player of the Week by the State University of New York Athletic Conference for the second week in a row.
Thompson, a sophomore goalie at SUNY Potsdam, garnered the award for the fourth time this season.
Thompson recorded a 6.64 goals-against average and .676 save percentage during two wins for the Bears last week. He made six saves in Potsdam's 17-4 victory against SUNY Plattsburgh on Wednesday, then on Saturday, he made 17 saves in Potsdam's 11-10 overtime win against Brockport that clinched a SUNYAC playoff spot.
Thompson's .659 save percentage for the season leads all NCAA Division III goaltenders and he leads the SUNYAC in GAA at 7.17, which is also sixth in the country.
SUNY Potsdam (9-5 overall, 4-3 SUNYAC) faces top-seeded SUNY Cortland (11-4, 7-0) in a conference semifinal at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Cortland.
MURPHY, MAHONEY HONORED
St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse players Judge Murphy and Daniel Mahoney picked up Liberty League honors for their respective showings in the Saints' upset of the RPI Engineers last week.
Murphy, who won Offensive Performer of the Week honors, recorded six goals and an assist and added a ground ball and a caused turnover during St. Lawrence's 15-10 victory over RPI, which wrapped up the second seed in the Liberty League Tournament.
Mahoney, who won Rookie of the Week honors, totaled four goals and two ground balls in the Saints' victory.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
SUNDSTROM TAKES HONOR
Haley Sundstrom captured Liberty League Defensive Performer of the Week honors Monday after helping St. Lawrence to victories over Clarkson and Rochester Institute of Techonology last week.
Sundstrom, a junior, totaled eight ground balls and two turnovers and won nine draw controls over the two wins, a 15-14 victory against Clarkson and a 14-7 decision over RIT.
NAC HONORS DAYTER
SUNY Canton's Samantha Dayter was recognized as the North Atlantic Conference's Co-Player of the Week for women's lacrosse Monday.
Dayter posted 20 points on 10 goals and 10 assists, and added 16 draw controls, five ground balls and two caused turnovers as the Kangaroos went 2-0.
SUNY Canton claimed the No. 1 seed in the NAC playoffs with a 22-12 victory over SUNY Morrisville, as Dayter registered seven goals and five assists. She added eight more points in SUNY Canton's 19-5 win over SUNY Poly.
MEN'S GOLF
KING PERFORMER OF WEEK
St. Lawrence University sophomore Jimmy King was selected the Performer of the Week by the Liberty League on Monday.
King claimed the individual title at the Liberty League Championship, scoring 2-under-par 217 over 54 holes, then prevailing in a sudden-death playoff against Rochester's Tom Liu and Skidmore's Evan Forrest by shooting par on the first two playoff holes.
King led the Saints to second place as a team at the Shenendoah Golf Club at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona.
SOFTBALL
BALCOM CO-ROOKIE OF WEEK
SUNY Canton's Sarah Balcom, who is from Sandy Creek, was selected Co-Rookie of the Week by the NAC for her output last week.
Balcom hit .481, going 13-for-27, and registered five doubles, a home run and nine RBIs on the week. She went 5-for-7 with three doubles, a home run and four RBIs in SUNY Canton's doubleheader sweep of Lehman. She was 4-for-9 with a double, triple and four RBIs in a sweep of Wells.
