Laytos Claims First Career Big Ten Weekly Honor
10/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- Freshman Paige Laytos (Lititz, Pa./Warwick HS), a member of the Univesity of Michigan field hockey team, was named the Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday (Oct. 9) after recording five points in the Wolverines' back-to-back wins against Michigan State and Miami (Ohio). The conference accolade is the first of her career.
Laytos
Laytos found the back of the Spartan cage midway through the second half of last Friday's (Oct. 6) contest to secure her first collegiate goal and pace Michigan to the 2-1 conference victory. The U-M freshman, camped out on the left goalpost, redirected a hard pass from across the circle straight into the top corner of the cage. The game-winning tally came 15 minutes after Laytos had set up a similar play in the MSU circle, firing a hard shot to the right of the goal that junior Lucia Belassi (Paysandu, Uruguay/Liceo #1) tipped past the Spartan goalkeeper. With a goal and an assist -- contributing to both U-M scores, Laytos earned her second career multi-point effort.
Laytos posted her second goal of the weekend two days later at Miami (Oct. 8), capping the Wolverines' impressive 5-3 come-from-behind victory with a tally in the final minute of regulation. In the scrum following a late U-M penalty corner, Laytos corralled the rebound from a direct shot and slammed her own shot to the back of the RedHawk cage.
Laytos is the second Wolverine to claim a Big Ten weekly honor this season, joining senior goalkeeper Beth Riley (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area HS), who received the defensive citation after blanking the opposition through 105 minutes of play against Ball State (Sept. 15) and Louisville (Sept. 17).
The Wolverines will host a non-conference contest tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 10) against intrastate rival Central Michigan. The match is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start at Phyllis Ocker Field.
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
