Field Hockey Defensive Player of the Week
Grace Ball, Appalachian State
Midfield, Sophomore, Blue Bell, Pa. (Wissahickon)
Ball helped App State to its first win against a ranked opponent in program history by holding No. 24 James Madison to zero points Friday. She poured in 59 minutes Friday and 60 against Ohio State Sunday to help the Mountaineers to a 1-1 weekend. Against Ohio State, Ball snagged a defensive save in the 2nd period to keep the game within reach.
Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week
Jillian Shive, Ohio
Midfielder, 5th Year Senior, Lebanon, Ohio
Jillian Shive scored three goals on four shots on Saturday against Saint Louis. Shive's hat trick was the first of her career in Ohio's dominant win. Shive also recorded an assist on Ohio's first goal of the game to Katelyn Whittle, her second assist of the season.
Other Nominees
Helena Cambra Soler, Kent State University
Midfield, Senior, Barcelona, Spain (Institucio cultural del cic)
Senior Helena Cambra Soler was dominant in Kent State’s 4-3 double overtime win against No. 25 Maine, controlling the midfield while playing almost every minute of the game. Cambra recorded five shots on goal, scoring the top shelf game winner for the Flashes in the second overtime period, and added two assists in the game as well. She also assisted on Kent State’s lone goal against Northwestern.
Madison Nuckols, Longwood
Goalkeeper, R-Senior, Callanda, Va. (Carlisle School)
Nuckols nearly led Longwood to an upset road win against No. 20 Old Dominion and then came up big in the second half of a 4-3 road win at William & Mary. Against the nationally-ranked Monarchs Friday, she took a shutout into the 58th minute before Old Dominion mounted a late-game charge with two goals in the final 2:55. In her follow-up against the Tribe Sunday, she made three saves in a three-minute span in the third period and four saves total to help lift the Lancers to a late-game win of their own, 4-3.
Breanna McWhorter, Bellarmine
Goalkeeper, Senior, Louisville, KY (Manual)
Reached No. 3 on Bellarmine's all-time saves list, surpassing the 200-save plateu; had a season-high 15 saves against UC-Davis.
Isabelle Perese, Miami University
GK, Junior, Thomas Worthington (Worthington, Ohio)
Perese was stunning over the weekend, making 9 saves on the weekend and allowing only two goals, both of which came on the road in a loss to #10 Virginia. UVA scored on a stroke and then on a field goal that was batted in from the air; in the game against Richmond, Perese made seven saves, many of the acrobatic variety, to keep a clean sheet.
Luisa Knapp, Kent State University
Forward, Senior, Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany (Mathilde Planck Gymnasium)
Senior forward Luisa Knapp was active on offense all week for Kent State. She scored in both of the Flashes games against No. 5 Northwestern and No. 25 Maine. Knapp also tallied an assist in Kent State's double overtime win against Maine. She recorded a 100% shot on goal percentage for the week.
Friederike Stegen, Appalachian State University
Midfield, Senior, LAATZEN, GERMANY (BISMARCK SCHOOL)
Friederike Stegen led the Mountaineers to the team’s first win against a ranked opponent in program history Friday night. She dominated on offense, scoring the go-ahead goal to give App State the lead over No. 24 James Madison. She then assisted on the Mountaineers’ second goal to push App State to a comfortable 2-0 lead in the second half, leading to the eventual shutout win. Over the weekend, all of Stegen’s shots versus James Madison and Ohio State were on goal, and she played 91 total minutes for the Black & Gold.
Isis Vrolijks, Longwood
Midfield, Sophomore, Amstelveen, The Netherlands (Keizer Karel College)
Vrolijks played hero for Longwood in a 4-3 win at William & Mary, first scoring a crucial goal in the third period that put Longwood up 3-1 and then feeding classmate Kate Frey for the game-winning goal in the 53rd minute.
Marit van der Bend, Bellarmine University
Forward, Freshman, Voorburg, Netherlands
Accounted for Bellarmine's lone goal against Davidson with a breakaway early in the third quarter.
Kate Biglin, Central Michigan
Forward, So., Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (Marian)
Biglin scored in both matches for Central Michigan including a 4-1 victory over Merrimack, CMU's first of the year. Biglin had a team-high 10 shots, five on goal during the weekend.
Claudia Negrete Garcia, Miami University
Striker, Sophomore , Santander, Spain
Negrete Garcia led the RedHawks with three points on the weekend, tallying a goal and an assist in the win over Richmond. She assisted on the first goal with a backhand pass to the stick of Curran, who redirected it in on the back post for the eventual game-winner. She added an insurance goal in the third quarter after gaining control of a loose ball off the press and roofing a backhand strike to the cage.
