Martin, Foley Earn Big South Women's Lacrosse Player of the Week Honors
March 22, 2022 | Women's Lacrosse
CHARLOTTE – The Big South announced the winners of its weekly awards on Tuesday morning and selected Gardner-Webb's Maddie Martin as the Defensive Player of the Week and Bria Foley as the Freshman of the Week.
The double selection for GWU marks the second consecutive week that two Runnin' Bulldogs have earned the league's weekly honors, upping the team's total to five player of the week honorees this season, the most in a single season in program history.
The announcement marks Martin's second time winning the weekly defensive award this season, as well as Gardner-Webb's third time earning the Big South Defensive Player of the Week in 2022. The honor also makes Martin the first player in team history to be selected for either the offensive or defensive weekly accolade by the Big South twice in the same season.
Martin was key in the Runnin' Bulldogs' 14-12 win at Stetson on Saturday, collecting nine draw controls, scooping five ground balls and causing two turnovers. She helped lead the team win 11 of the last 14 draws of the game, including the last six to end the afternoon. Her five ground balls pushed her to 26 on the 2022 campaign, a new single-season career-high for the Warrenton, Virginia native. A senior defensive midfielder, Martin also made a key play in the victory when she caused a turnover on the final Hatters' possession with 2:17 remaining with the team holding onto a one-goal lead.
As for Foley, the first-year Runnin' Bulldog scored three goals to notch her first-career hat trick in the win while setting career-highs in both goals and points. The strong performance in the win over Stetson marked her sixth-consecutive game in which she netted a goal, and finished as her fifth game this year with multiple points. Her scores on the day included a go-ahead goal in the third, as well as one in the waning seconds of the period to boost the 'Dogs to the team's largest lead. Ultimately, her final score put Gardner-Webb up by two,14-12, with 46 seconds left to seal the win.
Additionally, High Point's Abby Hormes won the Offensive Player of the Week with her six-goal performance against Elon.
Now sitting above .500 at 4-3 on the season, Gardner-Webb looks ahead towards wrapping up its nonconference schedule on Saturday, March 26 at Kennesaw State. First draw slated for noon.
