CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Three standouts who contributed to five America East field hockey wins over the weekend are this week's conference award winners, which were announced Tuesday afternoon for the week ending Sept. 3.
Fairfield University's Felicitas Heinen earned Player of the Week honors while Boston University's Valentina Cerda Eimbcke picked up Defensive Player of the Week recognition and University of New Hampshire's Meg Carroll garnered Rookie of the Week accolades.
Heinen (Munich, Germany) tallied three goals and an assist to lead Fairfield to wins over Yale and Monmouth over the weekend en route to her first America East Player of the Week award. The sophomore defender got her team on the board in Friday's 4-0 win over Yale scoring what proved to be the game winner on a penalty stroke in the seventh minute. She added another tally just 4:26 later for her second career multi-goal contest. A second-team all-conference choice in 2011, Heinen scored her third goal of the week off a penalty corner in the 14th minute of the Stags' 5-4 overtime win against Monmouth Monday. Heinen was instrumental in helping Fairfield erase a two-goal deficit in under 15 minutes to go as she setup teammate Molley Caffrey in the 59th minute to trim the defici to 4-3 and started a string of three straight unanswered goals.
Cerda Eimbcke (Santiago, Chile) played in the first half of both Boston University wins last week and did not allow a goal in earning Defensive Player of the Week recognition. The sophomore goalkeeper, who earned America East Rookie of the Year honors in 2011, saw 11 shots in the two games, a 1-0 overtime win over Providence on Friday and a 4-1 victory over Kent State on Saturday, including four on net, and stopped all four. Cerda Eimbcke kept the Terriers even with the Golden Flashes as she made four stops in the first 11 minutes of the game.
Carroll (Mansfield, Mass.) helped UNH rout Brown, 9-1, on Friday by scoring her first career goal and earned Rookie of the Week honors as a result. The freshman midfielder responded to the Bears' only goal of the day by finding the back of the cage in the 44th minute to give her team a 5-1 lead heading into the intermission. Carroll got off four shots in her 46 minutes of action and helped hold Brown to just five.
Overall, America East teams went 7-3 last week. In addition to the wins by Boston U., Fairfield and New Hampshire, University Albany added a 3-1 win over Hofstra Friday behind two scores from Corrine McConville while University of Maine beat Providence, 3-2 in overtime, on Tuesday.
The first NFHCA regular-season rankings came out Tuesday and all four America East teams that were ranked in the preseason poll remain ranked. Boston University, which is a perfect 4-0, rose to 12th, while Albany is 21st, UNH is 24th and Maine is 25th.
2012 Field Hockey Weekly Award Winners
Aug. 27 - Player of the Week: Jacinda McLeod (Boston U.); Defensive Player of the Week: Jess Maroney (Boston U.); Rookie of the Week: Liza Morgan (Albany)
Sept. 4 - Player of the Week: Felicitas Heinen (Fairfield); Defensive Player of the Week: Valentina Cerda Eimbcke (Boston U.); Rookie of the Week: Meg Carroll (New Hampshire)