ATLANTA – After sparking St. Thomas to a national championship with his efforts at the faceoff dot and more, sophomore Erik Thysse has earned Commanding Performance of the Week powered by Under Armour for the period ending May 14.

Thysse posted a solid 55.1 faceoff winning percentage over four games against some of the top draw men in the country, capping off the week by winning 12-of-17 faceoffs in the title game against Grand Valley State. That effort allowed the Tommies to mount a comeback for the 10-7 win.

In addition, Thysse scored three goals during the week while gobbling up 17 grounds balls.

“Erik is easily one of the hardest-working guys on our team,” said St. Thomas coach Brian Gross. “He's a guy who leads by example, showing up early to work on faceoffs, always getting into the weight room and making all the conditioning sessions. What we saw in the GVSU game, particularly in the second half, was the culmination of all that extra work. His ability to control the X in the second half allowed us to generate extra possessions and erase our deficit.”

For his efforts in earning the Commanding Performance of the Week powered by Under Armour, Thysse received a new Under Armour Command Head. Under Armour is the proud sponsor of the MCLA.

UNDER ARMOUR HONOR ROLL

Seth Kuehnl, Sr., Grand Valley State – The Lakers’ nightmare matchup out of the midfield scored 11 goals and dished out an assist during the week, powering GVSU to the championship game for the second time in three years.

Dennis Bell, Soph., Reinhardt – The Eagles attackman scored seven goals and dished out three assists in three games, including a two goal, two assist performance in the upset of defending national champion Dayton in the quarterfinals.

Kevin Sturgeon, Fr., North Dakota State – The Bison came up short in the semifinals against St. Thomas, but Sturgeon still accounted for eight goals and an assist in three games.

Jared Yoshino, Jr., Lourdes – The talented attackman buried five goals and set up two others in the victory over Duluth in the first round and added a goal and three dimes in the shootout loss to St. Thomas.

Connor Kelley, Sr., Southern Oregon & Austin Dover, Jr., St. Thomas – Kelley set the new MCLA Division II tournament record for saves in an 18-3 first round loss to Dayton with 26 stops and then Dover tied the mark a day later in the quarterfinal victory over Lourdes. The previous record was 23 set back in 2010.