ATLANTA – After leading Montana to a critical victory over a conference rival, Grizzlies senior netminder Hunter Heaston has been tabbed the MCLA Division II PEARL Goalie of the Week for the period ending April 7.

The Grizzlies entertained No. 21 Western Washington on Saturday afternoon with the winner taking a stranglehold on the top seed out of the PNCLL North.

Thanks to 24 saves from the Castle Rock, Colo., native – and a save percentage of 77.4 – the Grizzlies took the 13-7 decision.

For the season, Heaston has saved 64.3 percent of the shots that are coming his way, including three games with 20-plus stops.

“Hunter has been our starter for the past five seasons and he’s playing his best lacrosse I’ve seen this spring,” said Montana coach Tucker Sargent. “He’s also one of the leaders on this team and the way he steps up, he plays really gets the team fired up.”

As the recipient of the PEARL Goalie of the Week honor, Heaston will receive a PEARL swag bag of goodies that will include PEARL lacrosse balls – the official ball of the MCLA.

PEARL Honor Roll

Gunner Arens, Jr. – St. Thomas
In a 1-2 weekend against premium ranked competition, the Stillwater, Minn., product combined for 52 saves.

Conor Farnan, Soph. – Tulane
The Green Wave knocked off Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee thanks to a combined 24 saves (70.6 sv%) by the Westhampton, N.Y., native.

Keegan Greene, Jr. – Grand Valley State
The backstop from Grand Rapids combined to stop 39 of the 67 shots (58.2 save percentage) in wins over three ranked teams.

Nicholas Meola, Sr. – Florida Atlantic
The Owls snatched the top seed out of the SELC by downing FGCU thanks to 15 stops from the Flemington, N.J., netminder.

Anthony Steele, Sr – Loyola Marymount
The Woodland Hills, Calif., keeper made 16 saves (72.7 save percentage) in the Lions’ 10-6 victory over Arizona Christian.

Jonah Varallo, Jr. – Bridgewater State
The Bears stifled Maine in a big CLC showdown and thanks to a dozen saves from the Billerica, Mass., native, Bridgewater rolled, 9-3.