The National Lacrosse League’s pool of players to choose its players of the week from for the first week of the season was considerably smaller than normal with only one game on the docket. But after the Washington Stealth’s 13-12 victory over the defending champion Rochester Knighthawks in the season-opener, three Stealth players have been honored by the league for their week 1 performances.
Cliff Smith was named the Offensive Player of the Week after recording his first-career hat trick in against the Knighthawks. All of Smith’s three goals came in the first half. He also recorded five assists in the contest.
Rookie Mitch McMichael was also named the league’s Transition Player of the Week after scoring the go-ahead goal with 5:46 remaining in the game and grabbing four loose balls. McMichael’s go-ahead goal was the first goal of his NLL career.
The Stealth’s Kyle Buchanan was also named the league’s Rookie of the Week after dishing out four assists and grabbing two loose balls in his NLL debut.
The other weekly award went to Rochester goalkeeper Matt Vinc for Defensive Player of the Week.
The NLL’s weekly awards are determined by a weekly vote of the league’s general managers and head coaches.
The Stealth are back in action this Saturday night when they face the Colorado Mammoth on the road. The opening faceoff is set for 6 p.m. at Denver’s Pepsi Center.
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