MINNEAPOLIS— Lake Forest College's Mario Florio was named the Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) offensive and player of the week while Northland College's Luke Ballard and Lake Forest College's Grant Pedersen both earned defensive player of the week honors, for events February 20-26, as selected by the league's head coaches. 

Florio (Freshman, Oak Brook, Ill.) had seven goals in Saturday's  victory over Beloit. "Mario kick started our offense against Beloit," said head coach Phil Dodson.

Ballard (Sophomore, Milford, Mich.) had eight caused turnovers and six ground balls in Saturday's narrow overtime loss to Carroll. "He continually put the pressure on Carroll and led our defense," noted head coach Jakob Wohlford.

Pedersen (Freshman, Budd Lake, N.J.) scored one goal, went 10-15 in faceoffs,  and had seven ground balls in Saturday's contest. "He helped anchor our defense that only allowed 24 shots over two games this week," said Dodson.

This is his first career MLC weekly honor for the trio.

The MLC is comprised of NCAA Division III institutions located throughout the Midwest including Cornell (Mt. Vernon, Iowa), Dubuque (Dubuque, Iowa), Lake Forest (Lake Forest, Ill.), Monmouth (Monmouth, Ill.), Northland (Ashland, Wis.), and Northwestern (St. Paul, Minn.).

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