ATLANTA – After leading West Virginia to an upset victory over a ranked conference opponent, Mountaineer junior netminder Jack Gaeger has been awarded the MCLA Division I PEARL Goalie of the Week for the period ending April 21.

With West Virginia traveling to No. 19 James Madison for a first-round ALC tournament bout, the Charleston, W.V., native was ready to spring the upset. He finished with 23 saves as the Mountaineers downed the Dukes, 16-11.

Gaeger posted a 67.6 save percentage for the game and is stopping shots at a 62.8 percent clip for the season.

“Jack has been the heart and soul of our defense all year, and both him and his family have been instrumental in moving our program forward the past few years,” said West Virginia coach Brian Houk. “He brings a ton of energy to the field in practice and on game day, and that inspires our whole defense to play with confidence and energy.

“We can always rely on him to make the routine saves but he also makes plenty of ridiculous saves that no goalie has any business making. After the big win, all he had to say was praise for his defenders and teammates that put him in a position to succeed. He has such an infectious energy and is really fun to coach and be around.

“Going into the JMU game, our defensive coach, Dale Marcot, put together a strong defensive gameplan, and Jack was key in making sure everyone on the field was held accountable to the game plan and executed it throughout the game.”

For winning the PEARL Goalie of the Week honor, Gaeger will receive a PEARL swag bag of goodies that will include PEARL lacrosse balls – the official ball of the MCLA.

PEARL Honor Roll

Sam Bellomy, Jr. – Northeastern
In victories over Boston College and Rhode Island, the Hingham, Mass., backstop turned away 37 shots against 15 goals allowed – a 71.2 save percentage.

Kaelan Bonner, Sr. – Michigan State
The Ann Arbor, Mich., native posted a combined 40 saves in three games, leading the Spartans to its second-straight UMLC title.

Easton Havemann, Jr. – Texas A&M
The Spring, Texas, backstop turned away 15 shots, leading the Aggies to a 15-6 victory over Southern Methodist and a trip to the LSA tourney.

Aidan Shah, Jr. - Arizona State
The Portland, Ore., product turned away 23 shots, leading the Sun Devils to a big rivalry win over Arizona, 12-7.

Easton Wilkey, Fr. – Brigham Young
The rookie out of Orem, Utah, stopped 17 shots in the Cougars 12-10 victory over conference rival Utah Valley.

Sutton Yazzolino, Jr. - Stanford
In a triple overtime loss to Sonoma State in the WCLL tournament, the Portland, Ore., native was outstanding, finishing with 21 stops – five of them in OT.

Peter Zagrobelny, Soph. – Georgia Tech
In the Yellow Jackets’ run to the SELC championship game, the Tarrytown, N.Y., netminder collected 30 saves.