NNU’s Allianic Awarded PEARL Honor

(Photo by Bob White)

ATLANTA – After backstopping Northwest Nazarene to a clean, three-game sweep of the UMLC, Nighthawks sophomore netminder Rayden Allianic is the MCLA Division II PEARL Goalie of the Week for the period ending March 9.

Northwest Nazarene started its three-games-in-three-days run on Thursday against St. John’s. The Meridian, Idaho, native made 10 stops in the ‘Hawks 22-6 victory. That was followed up on Friday against No. 11 North Dakota State. The two teams got into a shootout with Allianic turning away 14 shots in a 20-16 win.

On Saturday, NNU went toe-to-toe with No. 2 St. Thomas and thanks to 18 saves from Allianic, the Nighthawks pulled a stunning, 11-10 triumph in double overtime.

In an earlier 20-4 victory over Arizona Christian on Tuesday, Allianic also added six more saves and just two goals against in a half of action.

For the week, Allianic went 4-0 with 48 saves and 34 goals against – good for a 58.5 save percentage.

“Rayden has been a rock for us since taking over in cage,” said Northwest Nazarene coach Tom Blanchard. “He has complete confidence in the defense in front of him and that confidence in the defensive unit allows him to get comfortable so he can track the ball.

“We've seen him these last couple years making some spectacular saves and when he's locked in and making some great saves, it really energizes our entire team like we saw this past weekend in Minnesota.”

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

PEARL Honor Roll

Cameron Jeffers, Arkansas
Turned away 14 shots and posted a 73.7 save percentage in big win over Drury.

Alex Stewart, Florida Gulf Coast
Posted a stunning 27 saves and a 75.0 save percentage in win over Georgia Southern.