Sun's Athlete of the Week: Colby Martin, St. Thomas Aquinas boys soccer

St. Thomas Aquinas High School senior soccer goalkeeper Colby Martin is The Sun’s Athlete of the Week.

NOTHING GETS THROUGH ... St. Thomas Aquinas High School senior goalkeeper Colby Martin registers a trio of shutouts against nationally rated opponents for the undefeated Saints and is The Sun's Athlete of the Week. Aquinas ranks No. 5 in the nation this week.

Aquinas downed, in order, St. John the Baptist of Apple Valley, Minn, 2-0; O’Fallon, Ill., 2-0; and Quincy, Ill. 1-0 to take home the title.

All three Saints victims at the event currently rank nationally in the ESPN Rise Fab 50: Apple Valley is 27^th; O’Fallon, 39^th; and Quincy 29^th.

The wins pushed Aquinas to 12-0 for the campaign and served to give the Saints championship victories in three different tournaments this season.

Martin, who has orally committed to William Jewell, sports a .46 goals-against average with nine shutouts after missing the first three contests of the year due to injury.

“Colby is as good as there is with the ball in short range from the goal,” St. Thomas Aquinas coach Craig Ewing said of the senior, who wears uniform No. 1 for the Saints. “He just has great reflexes and always seems positioned in a way that gives him the best opportunity to make the play.

“For us,” Ewing noted, “being able to go back to him so that he can hit the ball out of the back and into the front third of the field is another tremendous advantage. He can instantly take us out of pressure and into attack mode with one kick.”