SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Jacksonville freshmen Jeremy Winston and Dixon Smith have been named the Southern Conference men’s lacrosse offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively, for all competition from Feb. 20-26. The awards are selected by the league office.
The Dolphins (2-3) went 1-1 on the week, topping Detroit Mercy 15-8 on Feb. 20 before falling to No. 4 Ohio State in overtime on Sunday, 12-11.
Winston scored eight goals in the two games off the bench, starting with three against the Titans on six shots. He scored twice in the first period and then the eventual game-winner in the third. The rookie attackman from Dallas, Texas, then notched a season-best and game-high five goals in the loss to the nationally ranked Buckeyes, doing so on just seven shots. Winston scored twice each in the second and third quarters and seemed to have tacked on an insurance goal with just 2:11 left in the contest, only to see Ohio State score twice in the last two minutes to force overtime and then get the game-winner with 1:46 left in the extra frame.
Smith collected four ground balls and caused five turnovers on the week, doing the majority of that damage against Ohio State. The Dallas, Texas, defender had all four ground balls and four of those caused turnovers against the Buckeyes, and drew the unenviable task of guarding All-American Tre Leclaire, holding him scoreless into the 59th minute before Leclaire got on the board and forced overtime. Smith also had a caused turnover in the Dolphins’ win over Detroit Mercy as Jacksonville held its second opponent to single-digit goals this season.
Jacksonville returns to action Saturday when it takes on No. 16 Vermont in a neutral-site contest in Severn, Maryland, at noon. The Catamounts will be JU’s fourth ranked opponents in its last five games.
Other offensive nominees: Roman Rohrbach (Air Force), Brian Wall (Bellarmine), David Williamson (Furman), Asher Nolting (High Point), Teddy Hatfield (Richmond) and Wesley Sanders (VMI).
Other defensive nominees: Trent Harper (Air Force), Clayton Krol (High Point) and Kyle Walsh (VMI).
2018 Southern Conference Men’s Lacrosse Players of the Week
Offense
Feb. 13 Hunter Forbes, Jacksonville
Feb. 20 Nick Hruby, Air Force
Feb. 27 Jeremy Winston, Jacksonville
Defense
Feb. 13 Trent Harper, Air Force
Feb. 20 Blake Goodman, Richmond
Feb. 27 Dixon Smith, Jacksonville
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