Marilyn Duffy-Cabana, field hockey
The senior co-captain's week included three wins, two shutouts, a .958 save percentage, and 25 saves, none bigger than the two penalty strokes she rejected on Saturday to give the Jumbos' a 1-0 win over NESCAC rival Bates on Homecoming Day.
Number 99 has been the backbone of a defensive unit that has headlined the Jumbos' recent upswing, allowing just one goal in her last 240 minutes in the cage. After two consecutive shutouts last week--including a 1-0 win over nationally ranked Div. II Bentley on Monday--Duffy-Cabana buckled down in the Jumbos' Homecoming tilt against the Bobcats. After two scoreless overtime periods and 100 minutes of deadlocked hockey, the game went into penalty strokes, where Duffy-Cabana stopped two of three Bobcat attempts to send the Jumbos home with a huge Homecoming victory, a key NESCAC win, and their first four-game winning streak since 2000.
David Halas, football
Last season, Halas was one of the more promising freshmen on the Jumbos' offense, pulling in 11 catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Now a sophomore, Halas has dwarfed his rookie numbers, emerging as the Jumbos' top receiver so far in 2006.
Under the Homecoming spotlight, Halas was electrifying in Saturday's comeback win over Bates, reeling in both of senior quarterback Matt Russo's touchdown passes en route to a 21-12 Tufts win. Halas' first touchdown catch, a five-yard pass from Russo, gave the Jumbos their first lead of the game, as they pulled ahead 14-9 late in the first half. After the Bobcats tightened the game at 14-12 just before halftime, it was Halas who padded the Jumbo lead, finding the end zone in the fourth quarter for a 21-yard touchdown.
Halas has emerged as Russo's go-to man downfield, as he now leads all Jumbo receivers in total receiving yards (117), yards per game (58.5), and yards per reception (19.5). As if that wasn't enough, all three of Russo's touchdowns this season have come on passes to Halas, and his longest pass of the season, a 46-yard TD pass that gave the Jumbos the lead last week against Hamilton, was also to Halas.
