Tavares, Gajic Earn NLL Monthly Honors
from press release
Bandits' star honored for leading team back into playoff race;
Mammoth rookie continues to impress.
Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares has been voted the National
Lacrosse League's Player of the Month for the month of March.
Colorado Mammoth forward Alex Gajic is the league's Rookie of the
Month for March. Tavares breaks the mold as the first offensive
player to win the monthly award this season (goaltenders Matt Vinc
won in February, Bob Watson won in January). As for the Rookie of
the Month award, Gajic wins his first of the season, stopping the
Toronoto Rock's rookie streak (Stephen Leblanc won in February and
Garrett Billings in January).
For the month of March, the first full month Tavares has played
after recovering from a leg injury, he scored eight goals and
dished out ten assists for a total of 18 points. The highlight for
Tavares came in a two-game weekend road trip, March 12-13, when he
not only helped pace the Bandits with seven goals and four assists,
but scored the overtime winning goal in games at Toronto and
Boston. With the help of Tavares in the lineup the Bandits
concluded the month of March going 4-0 overall moving them from 2-6
to 6-6 for the season and right back into the playoff picture.
The Rookie of the Month for March, Alex Gajic, has shown some early
flashes of excellence that have Mammoth fans excited about a
potential young star in the making. The Mammoth forward tallied
eleven goals and four assists in only three games in the month.
Though the Mammoth finished the month with an 0-3 record, Gajic
turned in a pair of memorable performances, scoring five goals
against the Edmonton Rush on March 13 and six goals against the
Washington Stealth on March 26. The Mammoth rookie is third overall
in rookie scoring through the first three months with 35 total
points.
The awards are voted on by the General Managers & Head Coaches
of the league's eleven member clubs.
