Albany’s Merrick Thomson (Stoney Creek, Ontario/Albany Academy) and UMBC’s Drew Westervelt (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll) share this week’s America East Player of the Week honor, while UMBC’s Jeremy Blevins (Cockeysville, Md./Calvert Hall) earns his third Rookie of the Week honor. The accolades were announced Monday (April 17).
Thomson scored a season-high five points (four goals, one assist) in a 13-7 win over Vermont on April 15. The victory earned Albany an America East Conference postseason tournament berth. Thomson had three goals and four ground balls in a 7-5 non-league triumph against Yale on April 13, as his team ended a three-game losing streak. He has combined for 15 points (11 goals, four assists) over his last four games and moved into fifth place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 165 points (124 goals, 41 assists).
Westervelt scored a career-high five goals and added an assist in UMBC’s 11-5 win over Binghamton on Saturday. He scored two first half goals and scored three times in UMBC’s 7-0 second half surge. Westervelt now has nine goals in three career games versus the Bearcats. The six-point effort catapults Westervelt into 16th place on UMBC’s all-time scoring list with 115 points (65 goals, 50 assists).
Blevins made eight of his ten saves in the second half, allowing just one goal in the final 35 minutes in the 11-5 win over the Bearcats. Blevins also garnered a season-high and game-high seven ground balls for the Retrievers against Binghamton.