2009 Field Hockey All-Conference Teams Released
Brown of Tufts Scores Player of the Year
HADLEY, Mass. – Tufts junior forward Tamara Brown
(Annandale, Va.) has been named the 2009 NESCAC Player of the Year,
as determined by the conference coaches. Brown, who currently leads
the league in scoring heading into this weekend’s NCAA
Tournament action, helped the Jumbos capture the 2009 NESCAC Field
Hockey Championship this past weekend, the program’s first
conference crown.
Brown has re-written the Tufts record books during her tenure. After smashing the single-season mark for goals a year ago with 28, Brown added the career tallies and points records to her resume this fall, as she currently has 54 goals - including 15 game-winners - and 16 assists for 124 points through three seasons. Brown has paced the Jumbos offense for the second-straight year with her conference-high 52 points on 21 goals and a personal-best 10 assists while starting all 17 contests, an average of 3.06 points per game. In addition to being recognized as Player of the Year, Brown also received All-NESCAC First Team honors, one of only three individuals to return from the 2008 First Team.
Juniors Christy Bradley (Wellesley, Mass.) of Trinity and Abby Hine (Madison, Conn.) of Connecticut College joined Brown as members of the attack on the All-Conference First Team. Bradley has enjoyed a stellar season on the turf for the Bantams with a career-best 13 goals and 31 points to rank third in both categories among all players in the conference. A Second Team selection last year, Hine moved up to the First Team as she led the Camels for the third consecutive season in all scoring areas with nine goals and six assists for 24 points. Hine will enter her senior campaign with 70 career points on 27 goals and 16 assists.
At midfield were three individuals that earned First Team recognition for the first time in their careers, junior Ingrid Oelschlager (Roanoke, Va.) of Bowdoin and sophomores Carly Dudzik (Darien, Conn.) of Amherst and Emily Blair (West Vancouver, British Columbia) of Middlebury. Oelschlager, the NESCAC Rookie of the Year and a Second Team member in 2007, collected four goals and six assists for 14 points while starting all 16 games for the Polar Bears. Dudzik more than doubled her rookie scoring figures with five goals and five assists for 15 points. Dudzik and the Jeffs will participate in the NCAA Tournament this Wednesday for the first time since 2000. Blair has netted two goals and five assists in helping the Panthers reach the NCAA Tournament for the seventh-straight season.
Five backs were honored on the First Team, the most defenders on the squad this decade. From the 2009 NESCAC champs were senior Margi Scholtes (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and sophomore Taylor Dyer (Hindham, N.H.). Both players have started every match so far this season for the conference’s top defense, as the Jumbos boast a league-low 0.53 goals against average with only nine goals allowed along with a scoring margin of plus-3.51. The 2008 Defensive Player of the Year, Scholtes has also chipped in some offense for Tufts with five goals and three assists for 13 points, just one point shy of her career-best 14 from a year ago. It is also the third year in a row that Scholtes has been honored as All-NESCAC, as she received Second Team recognition in 2007 and First Team honors in 2008.
From Trinity were the tandem of junior Robyn Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) and sophomore Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.). Williams was selected as a First Team member as a forward a year ago but split time between center back and midfield this season for the Bantams. Second among her teammates in scoring, Williams has already matched her exact point totals from last fall with 11 goals and eight assists for 30 points in one fewer game, as Trinity has earned a first round bye in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Sword’s five goals have all served as game-winners for the Bantams and her 14 points also match last season’s totals. She has also contributed one defensive save for Trinity. Rounding out the defensive corps on the First Team was Amherst senior Tierney Healey (Moreland Hills, Ohio). Healey leads the NESCAC in defensive saves with five stops through 15 outings.
In goal on the 2009 All-NESCAC First Team was Trinity sophomore Gina Dinallo (West Hartford, Conn.). After emerging as the top netminder for the Bantams last year, Dinallo has become one of the premier goalkeepers in the conference this season as she ranks among the league leaders with a 0.93 goals against average (3rd NESCAC), an .887 save percentage (1st), and five shutouts (2nd). She was also selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. NESCAC Rookie of the Year went to Middlebury first year Lauren Greer (North Hampton, N.H.). Greer, who was also named to the All-NESCAC Second Team, is second only to Tufts’ Brown in points and goals with 36 and 16, respectively.
Coach of the Year was bestowed upon Tina McDavitt of Tufts for the second year in a row. Now in her sixth season at the helm of the Jumbos, McDavitt’s squad won the 2009 NESCAC Field Hockey Championship this past weekend at Trinity, the program’s first league title. She earned the honor for the first time in her career last November.
|
2009 NESCAC Field Hockey All-Conference | ||||
| First Team | Institution | Yr. | Hometown | |
| F | Christy Bradley | Trinity | Jr. | Wellesley, Mass. |
| F | Tamara Brown | Tufts | Jr. | Annandale, Va. |
| F | Abby Hine | Connecticut College | Jr. | Madison, Conn. |
| M | Emily Blair | Middlebury | So. | West Vancover, B.C. |
| M | Carly Dudzik | Amherst | So. | Darien, Conn. |
| M | Ingrid Oelschlager | Bowdoin | Jr. | Roanoke, Va. |
| D | Taylor Dyer | Tufts | So. | Windham, N.H. |
| D | Tierney Healey | Amherst | Sr. | Moreland Hills, Ohio |
| D | Margaret Scholtes | Tufts | Sr. | Grosse Pointe, Mich. |
| D | Payson Sword | Trinity | So. | Princeton, N.J. |
| D | Robyn Williams | Trinity | Jr. | Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
| GK | Gina Dinallo | Trinity | So. | West Hartford, Conn. |
| Second Team | Institution | Yr. | Hometown | |
| F | Chase Delano | Middlebury | Jr. | Greenwich, Conn. |
| F | Lauren Greer | Middlebury | Fy. | North Hampton, N.H. |
| F | Morgan McCauley | Wesleyan | So. | Rye, N.Y. |
| F | Heather McCormack | Middlebury | Sr. | Rowley, Mass. |
| M | Jessica Perkins | Tufts | Jr. | Barrington, R.I. |
| M | Meryl Poulin | Colby | Jr. | Cape Elizabeth, Maine |
| M | Amanda Roberts | Tufts | Jr. | Wenham, Mass. |
| M | Whitney Thayer | Williams | Sr. | Lancaster, Pa. |
| D | Ella Curren | Bowdoin | So. | Roxbury, Conn. |
| D | Samantha Rothkopf | Bates | Sr. | Chicago, Ill. |
| D | Amy Siedlecki | Williams | Sr. | Madison, Conn. |
| GK | Tori Redding | Wesleyan | Fy. | Guilford, Conn. |
| Player of the Year | ||||
| F | Tamara Brown | Tufts | Jr. | Annandale, Va. |
| Defensive Player of the Year | ||||
| GK | Gina Dinallo | Trinity | So. | West Hartford, Conn. |
| Rookie of the Year | ||||
| F | Lauren Greer | Middlebury | Fy. | North Hampton, N.H. |
| Coach of the Year | ||||
| Tina McDavitt | Tufts | |||