DENTON, FICKS NAMED INAUGURAL BATES ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

LEWISTON, Maine --  First-year soccer midfielder Lakota Denton of Bernardston, Mass.,  and first-year field hockey goalkeeper Peggy Ficks of Washington, Conn., have been named Bates College  Athletes of the Week for the week of Sept. 28. This is the first time the awards have been given.

Dentonis the Bobcats' leading scorer this season with six goals and three assists for 15 points, already Bates' best single-season performance since 1993. The third leading scorer in the NESCAC, Denton has been involved in nine of the Bobcats' 16 goals this season.

In a 5-1 win over Husson on Sept. 24, Denton scored his first career hat trick, with all three goals coming in the first half off headers from across the box. Three days later, the Bobcats (4-1), ranked 10th in New England at the time, faced New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rival Tufts, then ranked seventh in the region. Denton assisted on the first and last Bates goals in the 3-1 win, Bates' first over the Jumbos since 1986.

Ficks has made 71 saves and allowed eight goals in five games this season, for a .901 save percentage and a goals-against average of 1.84. Excluding a 5-0 loss to Middlebury, her goals-against average dips to 0.86.

At Division II Stonehill College on Sept. 25, Ficks recorded her second career shutout with 10 saves. Two days later, in front of a large Parents and Families Weekend crowd at Bates, Ficks made 11 saves in a 2-1 comeback victory over Tufts, the Bobcats' (3-2) first over the Jumbos since 1994. For her efforts, Ficks was also named New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Co-Player of the Week.