Field Hockey All-NESCAC Selections Released
Middlebury's Greer
Scores Player of the Year
HADLEY, Mass. – Junior forward Lauren Greer
(North Hampton, N.H.) of Middlebury College has been selected by
the conference coaches as the 2011 NESCAC Player of the Year. A
threat to score every time she touches the ball, Greer is in the
midst of a record-setting fall as the Panthers head into the NCAA
Tournament this weekend. She is the third Panther player since 2000
to receive the league's top award, joining former Middlebury
standouts Char Glessner and Janie Mackey after they won the honor
in 2001 and 2004, respectively.
Greer has re-written the Panther
record book, setting new single-season and career program marks in
goals, assists, and points during her third year at Middlebury. The
2009 Rookie of the Year has amassed 78 points over 17 outings - the
most by any player since NESCAC championship play began in 2000 -
with 31 goals and 16 assists. Only once this season has Greer been
held off the score sheet, as she has had a hand in over 66 percent
of her team's goals. Averaging 1.82 goals per game, Greer needs
just one more tally to tie the total produced by former Polar Bear
great Lindsay McNamara during her 21-game campaign in 2008. In
addition to being named Player of the Year, Greer garnered
All-NESCAC honors for the third year in a row with her
second-straight appointment to the First Team.
A total of five forwards were
chosen as part of the 11-member All-NESCAC First Team. Joining
Greer up front from Middlebury was classmate Charlotte Gardiner
(Larchmont, N.Y.). Gardiner, who was promoted from last year's
Second Team, has recorded a career-best seven goals along with
seven assists to rank third among her teammates in scoring.
From NESCAC champion Bowdoin were
senior attackers Elizabeth Clegg (Hudson, Ohio) and Katie Herter
(Topsfield, Mass.), both of whom are among the league leaders in
points. Clegg, second to only Middlebury's Greer in assists with 11
helpers, ranks sixth with 27 points while Herter, a 2010 Second
Team member, is just ahead of her classmate in fifth with 29 points
on 10 goals and nine assists. Amherst junior Katie McMahon
(Denville, N.J.) was the fifth and final forward on the First Team.
McMahon, one of nine individuals on the First Team to earn
All-NESCAC in some form last fall, paces the Lord Jeffs in scoring
for the third year in a row. The 2010 Second Team member has scored
14 goals and assisted on eight others for a 36-point total that is
tied for second in the NESCAC.
At midfield, seniors Carly Dudzik
(Darien, Conn.) of Amherst and Meera Sivalingam (Philadelphia, Pa.)
from Williams returned to the All-Conference First Team. For
Dudzik, it was the third time in as many years on the First Team as
she plays a vital role for the Jeffs on both sides of the ball.
Amherst's key distributor on attack and striker on corners, Dudzik
has five goals and a career-best eight assists over 16 starts.
Dudzik also serves as the flyer on defensive corners and has
recorded a defensive save, the second during her tenure with the
Jeffs. One of the top defensive players for the Ephs at center
midfield, Sivalingam features incredible footwork and stick skills.
The 2010 First Team member also chipped in on the offensive end,
scoring two goals and an assist.
The defensive unit on the First
Team featured three senior backs that have been decorated by the
conference on multiple occasions throughout their careers. Leading
the way was this year's Defensive Player of the Year, Ella Curren
(Roxbury, Conn.) from Bowdoin. A Second Team selection in 2009
before being elevated to the First Team in 2010, Curren is one of
the best two-way players in the NESCAC. She has provided strong
leadership to a defensive corps that has given up a league-low 10
goals, and on attack she has tallied 10 goals and assisted on four
others. Returning with Curren from last fall's First Team was
Tufts' Taylor Dyer (Windham, N.H.). The 2010 Defensive Player of
the Year was regularly assigned to disrupt an opponent's top player
during her career. Dyer, who joined Amherst's Dudzik as the only
two on the First Team to earn the honor three years in a row, holds
the rare distinction of having started every game during her tenure
at Tufts. Of her career-best six goals in 2011, three came via
penalty stroke. Trinity's Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.) wrapped up
a stellar career with her second appointment to the First Team
(2009). An instrumental member of the Bantam defense, Sword also
had a hand on the attack and contributed two goals and three
assists.
Amherst first year goalkeeper
Rachel Tannenbaum (Berwyn, Pa.) completed the 2011 All-NESCAC First
Team. Playing nearly every minute of every game, Tannenbaum has
been the backbone of a Jeff defensive unit with a league-leading
.894 save percentage and six shutouts while ranking second in goals
against average at 0.79. Owning a 13-3 record heading into
Wednesday's NCAA match against Gwynedd-Mercy, Tannenbaum added
NESCAC Rookie of the Year to her All-NESCAC haul. She is the first
rookie player since 2005 to land on the league's top team.
For the second-straight fall,
Bowdoin's Nicky Pearson earned NESCAC Coach of the Year. Now in her
15th season at the helm of the Polar Bears, Pearson's squad
captured its sixth conference crown in the last seven years this
past weekend and remained unbeaten at 17-0 heading into this week's
NCAA Tournament action. Since the NESCAC became a formal playing
conference in 1999, no other coach, regardless of sport, has been
recognized by the NESCAC as many times as Pearson has, as the
three-time national coach of the year has received the conference's
coaching honor on eight separate occasions.
| |
2011 NESCAC Field Hockey
All-Conference
|
| |
First Team |
Institution
|
Yr. |
Hometown |
| F |
Elizabeth Clegg |
Bowdoin |
Sr. |
Hudson, Ohio |
| F |
Charlotte Gardiner |
Middlebury |
Jr. |
Larchmont, N.Y. |
| F |
Lauren Greer |
Middlebury |
Jr. |
New Hampton, N.H. |
| F |
Katie Herter |
Bowdoin |
Sr. |
Topsfield, Mass. |
| F |
Katie McMahon |
Amherst |
Jr. |
Denville, N.J. |
| M |
Carly Dudzik |
Amherst |
Sr. |
Darien, Conn. |
| M |
Meera Sivalingam |
Williams |
Sr. |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
| D |
Ella Curren |
Bowdoin |
Sr. |
Roxbury, Conn. |
| D |
Taylor Dyer |
Tufts |
Sr. |
Windham, N.H. |
| D |
Payson Sword |
Trinity |
Sr. |
Princeton, N.J. |
| GK |
Rachel Tannenbaum |
Amherst |
Fy. |
Berwyn, Pa. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Second Team |
Institution |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| F |
Morgan McCauley |
Wesleyan |
Sr. |
Rye, N.Y. |
| F |
Lia Sagerman |
Tufts |
Jr. |
La Jolla, Calif. |
| F |
Caroline Snite |
Trinity |
Sr. |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
| M |
Lindsay Griffith |
Tufts |
Sr. |
Wilmington, Del. |
| M |
Erin McNally |
Hamilton |
Sr. |
Scotia, N.Y. |
| M |
Alex Philie |
Amherst |
So. |
East Sandwich, Mass. |
| D |
Brooke Phinney |
Bowdoin |
Jr. |
Dedham, Mass. |
| D |
Margaret Souther |
Middlebury |
Jr. |
Scarsdale, N.Y. |
| D |
Marisa Spagnolo |
Hamilton |
Sr. |
Bryn Mawr, Pa. |
| D |
Kelly Watkins |
Connecticut College
|
Sr. |
San Jose, Calif. |
| GK |
Gina Dinallo |
Trinity |
Sr. |
West Hartford, Conn. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Player of the Year |
|
|
|
| F |
Lauren Greer
|
Middlebury |
Jr. |
North Hampton, N.H.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Defensive Player of the Year |
|
|
| D |
Ella Curren
|
Bowdoin |
Sr. |
Roxbury, Conn.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Rookie of the Year |
|
|
|
| GK |
Rachel Tannenbaum
|
Amherst |
Fy. |
Berwyn, Pa.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Coach of the Year |
|
|
|
| |
Nicky Pearson
|
Bowdoin |
