(Photo by Anna Scipione)

ATLANTA – After backstopping Northern Arizona to an important ranked conference victory, Lumberjack senior netminder Louis Penaflor has been named the MCLA Division II PEARL Goalie of the Week for the period ending March 17.

Facing off against No. 24 Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles last Tuesday, the Huntington Beach, Calif., product stood tall. He finished with 23 stops in the Lumberjacks’ 11-10 victory – good for a 69.7 save percentage.

In limited action in comfortable wins over Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, Penaflor combined for 15 saves and just five goals against.

For the week, Penaflor – who was playing with an injured wrist – finished with 38 saves and 15 goals against: a healthy 71.7 save percentage.

“What’s missed in just reviewing the numbers is the quality of the saves,” said Northern Arizona coach Frank Ferrantelli. “These were point-blank stuffs, saves from the ground, saves from his knees off rebounds and pipe-to-pipe saves. Just incredible plays.

“Additionally, he was masterful in distributing the ball on the clear while under pressure, including a 50-yard behind-the-back to one of our attackman. Our defense was down a couple players and we also had a couple limited through injury this week. Louis carried us.

As the recipient of the PEARL Goalie of the Week honor, Penaflor will receive a PEARL swag bag of goodies that will include PEARL lacrosse balls – the official ball of the MCLA.

PEARL Honor Roll

Rayden Allianic, Fr. - Northwest Nazarene
In the Nighthawks upset of No. 7 Montana, the rookie backstop from Meridien, Idaho, finished with 18 saves and nine GBs.

Caleb Fry, Jr. – Arizona Christian
The Washington, Ill., native made 16 saves, helping the Firestorm register a win over Long Beach State. He blanked the Beach in the fourth quarter.

Ben Kellogg, Sr. – Saint Mary’s
The Gaels defeated UC Davis in a pivotal conference contest thanks to 19 saves form the Laguna Beach, Calif., native.

Nicholas Meola, Sr. – Florida Atlantic
The Owls picked up a big, 14-11 divisional victory over Tampa on Saturday thanks to 16 stops (59.3 sv%) from the Flemington, N.J., native.

Kyle Patton, Sr. – Coastal Carolina
The Bethlehem, Pa., product was a brick wall in the Chanticleers’ defeat of No. 18 Florida Gulf Coast, making 18 saves in the 17-5 win.