Jenn Day arrived at Thomas College last fall ready to play. The freshman from Gardiner started all 17 games for the soccer team and this spring is showing what she can do on the lacrosse field.

Last week Day was named North Atlantic Conference women’s lacrosse rookie of the week after scoring nine goals and two assists in a pair of non-conference victories for the Terriers. In three games this season, she has 11 goals and two assists to lead the team in scoring.

Day, who was an all-conference selection in soccer and lacrosse at Gardiner, wasn’t expecting such early success.

“I’m a little surprised,” she said. “It’s a whole new level of competition. In college it’s more about setting it up and waiting for that perfect pass.”

Day has the knack for knowing when to shoot and when to pass according to Thomas coach Lauren Bickford.

“She’s a smart attack player all around,” Bickford said. “She’s smart with cuts and she also knows when to pull out and make an assist. She’s a team player.”

Day gained notice as one of the top soccer goalies in the state when she played that position at Gardiner. She moved to defense at Thomas without complaint and says her favorite sport in “whichever one’s in season.”

She was scheduled to attend Elmira College in upstate New York, but after a campus visit last June decided she would rather attend a business school closer to home. At Gardiner, Day played basketball for two years and indoor track for another two so she was busy during each season. She never thought twice about playing two sports in college.

“That’s what I did in high school so it wasn’t much of a challenge,” she said.

It helped, Day said, that older teammates on both teams were welcoming to a freshman.

“The team is real easy-going and I love to play with them,” she said. Bickford added that as Day has gained her confidence and become more comfortable she’s more outgoing than she showed at first.

The conference has added three new teams in Castleton State, Colby-Sawyer and New England College. Perhaps based on last year’s 4-11 record the Terriers were picked to finish sixth out of seven teams in the preseason conference poll.

Bickford and Day said they’ll use that for motivation.

“We have a lot to prove and I think we can do it,” Day said.

Gary Hawkins — 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com