LANCASTER, Pa. – The Atlantic East Conference office released the 2022 All-Atlantic East Conference Field Hockey Teams Wednesday morning (Nov. 9) and the St. Mary’s College of Maryland field hockey team landed six on the all-conference teams plus claimed three of the four major awards.
Seventh-year head coach Jessica Lanham and her coaching staff were named the Atlantic East Coaching Staff of the Year for the second consecutive season. They led the Seahawks to their second regular-season conference title in a row with an undefeated record of 6-0 as well as a second straight runner-up finish in the Atlantic East Conference Championship Tournament.
This is Lanham’s second Coach of the Year award and third overall for the Seahawks field hockey program as Megan Block picked up the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Coach of the Year honor in 2007 and Lanham earned the honor from the Atlantic East in 2021.
For the second straight season, St. Mary’s has the Atlantic East Defensive Player of the Year as sophomore Charlotte Horn (Schnecksville, Pa./Northwestern) garnered the award this season. This is the third Player of the Year award collected by St. Mary’s College in field hockey as Emily Smithson ’09 nabbed CAC Player of the Year honors in 2008 and Sophie Carlson ’22 was named Atlantic East Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.
First-year Brenna Ziegler (Newark, Del./Newark Charter) picked up the Atlantic East Rookie of the Year award, marking the second straight season that the Seahawks have earned this award. Ziegler becomes the fifth Seahawk to earn the Rookie of the Year award, joining Lauriann Parker ’13, Paige Decker ’15, and Brady Wolf ’17, who all notched the honor back in the CAC, as well as Horn who collected the honor from the Atlantic East in 2021.
Additionally, Horn and Ziegler, along with seniors Angelina Arter (Delmar, Md./Delmar) and Celina Kaufman (Queenstown, Md./Kent Island) and junior captain Audrey Dickens (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) were named to the All-Atlantic East First Team while first-year Jena Vanskiver (Fallston, Md./Fallston) garnered second-team honors.
Dickens, Horn, and Kaufman are all repeat honorees. Six all-conference selections match the program-high set back in 2007 and again in 2021 while the five First Team picks equals the program-high set last year.
Kaufman and Ziegler were an unstoppable force for the Seahawks on the forward line as the duo combined for 30 of the team’s 56 goals this season.
This is Kaufman’s second all-conference honor as she made the All-CAC Second Team in 2019. She put up a career-best and team-leading 17 goals while adding a career- and team-best six assists for a career- and team-high 40 points. Selected as the Atlantic East Offensive Player of the Week on October 10, the 5-4 forward registered four multiple-goal games, including two three-goal hat tricks.
Kaufman also twice contributed a career-best two assists. She currently ranks second in the league with 17 goals, 40 points, and four game-winning goals.
Ziegler, who was named the Atlantic East Offensive Player of the Week on October 24, wasn’t far behind Kaufman with team second-bests of 31 points, 13 goals, and five assists. The 5-9 forward is currently tied for fourth in the league in goals while ranking fifth in points.
Ziegler recorded three multiple-goal games, including her first career hat trick with three goals in a 9-1 win over Manhattanville College (Oct. 8). She also tallied a career-best three assists plus two goals in a 7-0 win over Immaculata University (Oct. 26).
In the midfield, opponents ran into the brick wall of Dickens and Horn, who stymied the opponents’ transition game while helping the Seahawk offense with a strong counterattack.
Dickens is picking up her second straight All-Atlantic East First Team honor as she finished third on the team with five goals and fourth with 12 points. The 5-7 midfielder also contributed a team second-best three game-winning goals while adding two assists. She notched her second career multiple-goal game with two goals in a 3-2 win over Marywood University (Oct. 15).
Horn, a 2021 All-Atlantic East First Team pick, notched her first career points this season as she scored her first career goal in a 5-0 win at Neumann University (Oct. 19) and then tallied her first career assist in a 5-0 victory at Virginia Wesleyan University (Oct. 23).
Arter and Vanskiver combined for five defensive saves as the duo anchored a defense that gave up only four goals in conference action. For the second straight season, the Seahawks led the conference with a 1.32 (0.67 in conference play) team goals against average (GAA) and seven (three in league action) shutouts.
Arter tallied two defensive saves while also being an offensive threat. The 5-4 defender was tied for second on the team with five assists while ranking third with 13 points and fourth with four goals. She was named the Atlantic East Defensive Player of the Week on September 26.
Vanskiver paced the squad with three defensive saves, tying her for fifth in the conference.
St. Mary’s College (13-4) posted an undefeated league record of 6-0 to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic East Conference Championship Tournament for the second year in a row. The Seahawks also matched a program-high in wins with 13, equaling the 13 wins achieved in 2019. St. Mary’s finished as the runners-up, falling 3-0 to Cabrini University in the championship game (Nov. 5).
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Credits:
Bill Wood