FRISCO, Texas – Lamar University seniors
Marissa Gross,
Keely Thomas and
Riley Wilson have swept the Southland Conference Players of the Week accolades, announced league officials Tuesday morning. This is Thomas' third Goalkeeper of the Week and Wilson's second Defender of the Week honors, while Gross has earned her first SLC Offensive Player of the Week award.
Gross (South Grand Prairie, Texas) led the Cardinals with two goals and an assist throughout the week. She scored twice against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, including her third penalty kick of the year to lead LU to a 3-0 win. Then, she assisted on the game-winning goal to
Sofia Wilby in Sunday's 1-0 victory over Southeastern Louisiana. Gross leads the league with 10 goals, including five game-winners and is second with 22 points.
Thomas (Richmond, Va.) recorded nine saves on 19 shots faced to earn her fourth and fifth shutouts of the season, bringing her up to sixth all-time in program history. After recording five saves against Corpus Christi, she added four against the Lions, including two in the second half to prevent the tying goals from scoring. Thomas is the only player in the league with a sub-50 goals-against average (.41) and has five shutouts for the season.
Wilson (Round Rock, Texas) anchored the SLC top-ranked defense to bring the Cardinals' shutout total to six this season. LU held off 11 Islander shots Thursday. Then, after Big Red took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute Sunday, the Cardinals kept that lead intact for the final 83 minutes of the match. Wilson took a shot but also kept SLU from scoring an open-net chance with 10 minutes to go by clearing the ball out.
This is the second time this season the Cardinals swept the weekly awards, as both Thomas and Wilson teamed up with
Kamryn Harvey to sweep the accolades back on Sept. 22
nd.
The Cardinals will head on I-10 to face Houston Christian Sunday at Sorrel Fields. The match kicks off at 3:30 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
