SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Elon senior forward Chris Thomas has been named the Southern Conference’s men’s soccer player of the week for all matches Oct. 1-7. The selection is made by the league office. The award is Thomas’ third of the season and moves him into a tie for the most all-time in SoCon history.

Thomas scored three of Elon’s four goals on the week as the Phoenix knocked off a pair of ranked opponents to extend its unbeaten streak to six matches and jump into the national rankings. The Phoenix, which is ranked for the first time since 2006, debuted at No. 17 in the Soccer America Top 25 and No. 25 in the College Soccer News poll.

Thomas had two goals and an assist in a 3-2 road win over No. 18 West Virginia on Oct. 2. The Snellville, Ga., native helped the Phoenix win in dramatic fashion, scoring the tying goal in the 87th minute and assisting on the game-winner in the 90th as Elon stunned the homestanding Mountaineers with the late rally.

Thomas added more late heroics on Saturday, converting a penalty kick in the 92nd minute as the Phoenix knocked off No. 22 Furman 1-0. The game-winning goal was his sixth of the season.

With his scoring surge on the week, Thomas became Elon’s all-time leading goal-scorer, breaking Mike Wessel’s 24-year-old school mark. Thomas is now up to 46 career goals, the eighth-most in SoCon history. He also has 100 career points, the 14th-most in league history.

For the season, Thomas has 16 goals and 35 points, both single-season Elon records. The senior is tops in NCAA Division I in goals, goals per game (1.45) and points this year.

The weekly award is the sixth of Thomas’ career, moving him into a tie with UNCG’s Randi Patterson, who was honored six times from 2003-05, for the most in SoCon history.

Thomas was also honored by College Soccer News, earning a spot on its team of the week for the second time this season.

Elon (8-2-1, 2-0-0 SoCon) will try to remain undefeated in league play when it hosts Wofford (7-4-0, 1-0-0 SoCon) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Rudd Field.

Also nominated: Sean de Silva (College of Charleston), Luke Blades (Davidson) and Blair Gaines (Wofford).


2012 SoCon Men’s Soccer Players of the Week
Aug. 28    Maximilian Schulz, UNCG
Sept. 4    Coleton Henning, Furman
Sept. 11    Chris Thomas, Elon
Sept. 18    Valeriy Sviderskiy, Davidson
Sept. 25    Chris Thomas, Elon
Oct. 2    Hakan Ilhan, UNCG
Oct. 9    Chris Thomas, Elon
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