Fayetteville, N.C. – The Piedmont College women’s lacrosse team saw two players honored in the USA South weekly awards as both Blake Forrest and Francesca Malabad earned recognition from the league. Forrest took home Defensive Player of the Week while Malabad earned Rookie of the Week honors.
Blake Forrest compiled an impressive resume over the week as she allowed only 6 goals over 120 minutes of competition while stopping five shots for the Lady Lions. Against Alma, Forrest stopped four shots and collected her first-career shutout against Hanover College in a 20-0 victory for Piedmont.
Forrest is currently undefeated in the cage as she picked up her first victory in her first start against Hendrix College to open the season. She is now 3-0 in 2015.
For Forrest, this marked the second straight week she has earned Defensive Player of the Week after taking the honor in the opening week of the season. Also nominated this week was Emily Ewin of Methodist University.
Francesca Malabad tallied seven points on five goals and two assists for the Lady Lions to win her first USA South award earning Rookie of the Week. Malabad also collected seven ground balls, seven caused turnovers, and three draw controls in Piedmont’s two victories.
Malabad scored twice against Alma and added three scores against Hanover. The freshman defender from Ocoee, Florida now has 13 ground balls on the season, leading all newcomers to the Lady Lions. Also nominated was Maddi Ronelli of Methodist University.
Piedmont was 2-0 over the week with two decisive victories against Alma College, 19-6, and Hanover College, 20-0. The Lady Lions were at the hand of Mother Nature, waiting to see when they would be able to take the field, but the wintery weather did not seem to effect the Lady Lions who scored 39 combined goals in the two contests.
The Lady Lions will be back in action Monday night at Birmingham-Southern with a scheduled start at 6 p.m. The Panthers are currently 0-2 on the season with their last loss coming to Rhodes 18-4.
