Tribe Keeper Earns CAA Lax Rookie of Week Honors

Geary Recognized for Helping Tribe Author Two Victories over Ranked Opponents

04/07/08 6:47PM

Richmond, Va. - William and Mary freshman net-minder Emily Geary (Wayne, Pa.) was named as the Colonial Athletics Association’s Rookie of the Week (for the week ending April 6) for her efforts in helping the Tribe lacrosse program record a pair of wins over ranked opponents this past weekend.

Over the past weekend, Geary was between the pipes for two crucial conference wins; starting with a thrilling 11-10 OT win at No. 19 James Madison (Friday evening). Geary played a major role in fending off two critical late rallies by the Dukes – the first coming at the end of the regulation, as she denied two strong attempts in the waning minutes to send the game to overtime and the second coming in the final overtime session, where she held down the nets against several late JMU flurries. She ended the game against the Dukes with nine saves, a ground ball and a critical caused turnover. In the team’s 13-8 home upset of ninth-ranked George Mason (Sunday), Geary showed flashes of sheer brilliance, as she helped the Tribe defense hold the Mason attack scoreless for nearly 20 consecutive minutes during a decisive second half stretch that ballooned a 8-4 halftime lead for the College into an insurmountable 13-4 advantage. Geary ended her afternoon vs. the Patriots with 11 saves and three ground balls.

Starting with the Tribe’s game at then seventh-ranked Georgetown, Geary has squared off against four ranked squads in her last five outings. She has allowed no more than 10 goals in any of those affairs, and three times has held the opponent to less than eight scores during the brutal stretch. During this span of games, she has recorded double digit saves in four of the five contests.

The Tribe, which improved to 2-0 in Colonial Athletic Association play (6-6 overall), has now ripped off four-straight wins (three of which have come against ranked opponents). One has to go back to the 2001 season to find the last time W&M started its league schedule off with a pair of wins, while the four-game tear is the squad’s longest since 2000.