Miami Athletes of the Week
9/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
OXFORD, Ohio -- For their performances last week, sophomore football running back Maurice Thomas and senior soccer goalkeeper Vic Maniaci are Miami Athletes of the Week for the week of Sept. 19-26.
Thomas averaged 53.5 yards per kick return in a 27-20 loss to Cincinnati last Saturday. His highlight run included a 94-yard kick return down to the UC 6-yard line to set up Miami's first touchdown of the game. The 94-yard return is Miami's longest kick return in school history to not be returned for a score. This is the first time this season and in his career that Thomas has been named Miami's Male Athlete of the Week.
Maniaci notched a perfect weekend in goal for the RedHawks, stopping all 12 shots she faced while posting a pair of solo shutouts. Maniaci began the weekend by holding Akron scoreless over a 110 minute scoreless draw, making five stops in the MAC opener. She stepped up her game on Sunday, making several acrobatic reaction saves among seven total stops while helping keep the defense organized against a Buffalo team that attempted 15 corner kicks on Senior Day. Those clean sheets give Maniaci four shutouts on the season, all of which have come in her past five starts, while improving her season totals to a 0.85 goals against average and an .889 save percentage.
This is the first time this season and second time in her career that Maniaci has been named Miami's Female Athlete of the Week. She previously won it for the week of Aug. 17-23, 2015.
The next Miami Athletes of the Week will be announced on Monday, Oct. 3.
