Portugal and Wyman Named Field Hockey Players of the Week
Field Hockey Defensive Player of the Week
Katie Wyman, Longwood
Goalkeeper, Redshirt Junior, Havertown, Pa.
Wyman was the backbone of a 2-0 week for Longwood, which edged Appalachian State 4-3 in a double-overtime thriller and then routed Davidson 4-1 in back-to-back road wins. An All-MAC keeper, Wyman gave up just four goals in her nearly 154 minutes in goal, racking up 11 saves and a .733 save percentage as the Lancers -- ranked No. 19 in last week's NCAA RPI release -- improved to 7-2 on the season and 2-0 in MAC play. Wyman shut down Appalachian State in the extra time, saving both shots she faced to allow fellow junior Olivia Wawrzyniak to score the game-winner in the 84th minute. She racked up eight total saves in the game as the Lancers won their fourth straight away game. Just over 24 hours later, Wyman clamped down against Davidson and held the Wildcats to just one goal in a 4-1 rout. Davidson's lone goal came off a deflection just 3:19 into the game, but the Wildcats came up empty the rest of the way as Longwood's offense erupted for four second-half goals. The performance kept Wyman atop the MAC standings in save percentage and among the league's top three in goals against average, shutouts and saves per game.
Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week
Paula Portugal, Miami
Midfielder/Forward, Senior, Madrid, Spain (IES Diego Velazquez)
Paula Portugal led a relentless Miami attack over the weekend, scoring five goals -- more than any other MAC player this weekend -- in leading the RedHawks to a pair of victories. She notched two goals against MAC-rival Kent State, including finishing off an impressive series of passes from her teammates with a brilliant backhand strike, to help Miami to the 3-0 conference victory. In the next day against Indiana from the Big 10, Portugal scored the game winner and followed that up with two more goals to notch a natural hat trick to power the RedHawks to the win.
Other Nominees
Mariona Heras, Miami
Back/Midfielder, R-Senior, Terrassa, Catalonia (IES Terrassa)
Mariona Heras led a suffocating Miami defense that allowed only four shots combined in the two victories over the weekend, of which only three made it on cage. She was responsible for stopping one of them with a brilliant defensive save on a corner shot as Miami has now gone over 200 minutes without allowing a goal. The only MAC team that played that did not allow a goal to any opponent over the last week, Miami limited its two opponents to four short corners combined in the two games.
Annette Jarosz, Appalachian State
Midfielder, Sophomore, Elkridge, Maryland (Howard)
Jarosz has put together a stellar season so far, which earned her conference honors only two weeks ago. This week, the sophomore played 149 minutes between two games, including all 70 minutes in Sunday's game against Louisville. Against the Cardinals, Jarosz made a defensive save in the second half. Jarosz's defensive save on Sunday was her third of the season, which also is the team high for the Mountaineers. Jarosz also played 79 minutes against Longwood, only coming out for a short period of time due to injury. The student-athlete has played significant minutes in all 10 of Appalachian's games.
Leonie Verstraete, Longwood
Forward, Senior, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Longwood's breakthrough season continued with two more wins last week, and Verstraete was at the epicenter with two goals, three assists and a team-high seven points in the two-game set.
The Lancers, who earned the No. 19 spot in the first release of the NCAA RPI last week, followed Verstraete to back-to-back road wins at Appalachian State and Davidson to improve to 7-2 on the season and 2-0 in MAC play. Verstraete opened the weekend with a go-ahead assist in the closing minutes of regulation in a 4-3 double-overtime win at Appalachian State and then erupted for the highest-scoring game of her career, amassing two points, two assists and a career-high six points in a 4-1 rout at Davidson.
Verstraete spearheaded Longwood's offense in the back-to-back games, taking a team-high 24 shots and putting 18 of those on goal. She punctuated the two-win week by dishing an assist on the game-tying goal and then scored the game-winner minutes later as Longwood erased a 1-0 halftime deficit and took the lead for good on Verstraete's go-ahead strike less than 10 minutes into the second half. Verstraete followed up her game-winner with another assist and a goal for good measure, putting together her second multi-goal game of the year.
On the season, Verstraete leads the MAC in shots, ranks second in both goals and points per game, and fifth in assists per game.
Friederike Stegen, Appalachian State
Midfielder, Freshman, Laatzen, Germany (Bismarck School)
Stegen has made a major impact in her freshman season for Appalachian. On Friday, Stegen recorded an assist and three shots on goal against conference foe Longwood. Stegen's assist helped Appalachian cut the Lancers first half advantage from 2-0 to 2-1. Stegen played 57 minutes against the Lancers, serving as a key player in the Mountaineers' midfield. The freshman also made a crafty move to get off a shot on goal in the second overtime against Longwood. Stegen also played 54 minutes on Sunday against Louisville. The Laatzen, Germany, native is tied for the team lead in assists with four.
