Oct. 23, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second consecutive week, Notre Dame freshman midfielder Michael Thomas (Olathe, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) has been named the BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week for men’s soccer. Thomas collected three points last week, including the lone goal in the Irish’s 1-0 victory over No. 14 Connecticut on Saturday, Oct. 21. The freshman is fourth on the team with eight points on three goals and two assists.
Thomas, who collected conference honors a week ago for notching scores in wins over Michigan State and Providence, picked up the assist on a Cory Rellas (Plano, Texas/Plano West) goal in a 2-1 setback at West Virginia on Wednesday, Oct. 18. He upped his point streak to four games with the goal against the Huskies, on assists from Ryan Miller (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and Joseph Lapira (Lake Charles, La./Saint Louis Catholic) to propel No. 6 Notre Dame to the victory in its regular season finale.
The Olathe, Kansas native becomes the first Notre Dame player to garner the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week honor twice since Shane Walton did so three times in 1998.
For the season, Notre Dame has copped eight BIG EAST honors. Lapira has been named the Offensive Player of the Week on three occasions, while senior forward Justin McGeeney (Ames, Iowa/Ames) has also taken home that honor. Senior Chris Cahill (Louisville, Ky./DeSales) was named the Goalkeeper of the Week once and sophomore Matt Besler (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) was selected as the Defender of the Week last week.
Notre Dame opens BIG EAST Tournament play by hosting DePaul on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. (ET). The Irish, who finished the regular season with a 12-4-2 mark overall and an 8-3-0 league record, are the No. 3 seed out of the BIG EAST Blue Division, while the Blue Demons are the sixth seed from the Red Division. The winner of that match will travel to Rutgers for a quarterfinal showdown on Saturday, Oct. 28.
— ND —