MARLBOROUGH, Mass. — Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse player Evan Borchert (Littleton, Colo.) was named the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Defensive Athlete of the Week for the week of March 16-22, it was announced today by the NEWMAC.
The junior earns the honor for the second time this season after being tabbed for the week of February 9-15 and joins fellow weekly award winner senior Emmett Edwards (Sunderland, Vt.), who was named the league's Offensive Athlete of the Week this week. The Lyons have now earned six weekly awards this season with junior Chris Bodnaruk (Andover, Mass.) being named the NEWMAC Face Off Specialist of the Week for February 23 to March 1, junior Evan Paturzo (Bellingham, Mass.) (February 9-15) and senior Charlie Goodrich (Fairfield, Conn.) (February 16-22) being chosen as the weekly Offensive Athlete of the Week. The number of weekly awards ties the school record set during the 2024 campaign. Edwards' offensive accolades gives Wheaton a school-record total of NEWMAC weekly offensive awards. The last time three Lyons were selected for three weekly offensive honors was during the 2010 season when Billy McNamara was named the Pilgrim League Player of the Week three times.
Borchert was outstanding with a minuscule 3.59 goals against average fueled by a gaudy .731% save mark. ThunderRidge High School graduate allowed six or fewer markers in both matches for the Lyons in 116:58 minutes of action. Borchert began the week by turning back eight of 14 shots in a 12-6 win over Eastern Connecticut State University on March 17 and picked up a ground ball. The Colorado native capped the week by stopping 11 of 12 shots in 56:58 of action in a 10-2 victory over visiting Emerson College on March 21.
The Accounting major is arguably the best keeper in the conference, leading the circuit in both goals against average with an 8.22 mark and save percentage with a .622 rate. Borchert's save percentage is even more impressive when you consider that he's made more saves than any netminder in the conference except for one, ranking second with 120 stops in 532:40 minutes for the season. The Colorado native currently stands 27th in the nation in GAA and tied for 20th in save percentage. Borchert has recorded double-digit saves in eight of 10 matches and has registered a save percentage of 50% or more in all but one contest.
Borchert saw limited time in his first two seasons with Wheaton, which makes his current effort as the starting goalie truly remarkable and a testament to his own hard work. For his tenure in Norton, Borchert has seen action in 14 matches, while owning a 8.32 goals against mark to go with a .623 save mark. He has made 129 saves in 562:37 minutes of play.
The Lyons are currently 8-2 on the season, including 1-1 in NEWMAC play and return to action on Saturday, March 28 when they head to Worcester, Mass. to take on Clark University at 1:00 p.m.
