American East Conference

2017 #AEFH Handed Out on Eve League Championship

11/1/2017 8:45:00 PM

LOWELL, Mass. — Five standouts from three institutions earned America East field hockey major awards highlighting the conference’s 2017 award winners, which were announced at the conference’s annual awards banquet Wednesday evening in Lowell, Mass., site of the 2017 America East Field Hockey Championship.

The University of the Pacific’s Kriekie van Wyk and Savannah Burns earned Offensive Player and Midfielder of the Year honors, respectively, while Stanford University’s Kelsey Bing and Corinne Zanolli were tabbed Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Year, respectively. University at Albany’s Frederike Helmke was named Defensive Player of the Year and the Great Dane coaching staff garnered Coaching Staff of the Year accolades.

The 2017 #AEFH awards, along with the All-Conference & All-Rookie teams, were determined in a vote by the league's nine head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players. The All-Academic team was voted on by a committee of administrators from the conference’s member institutions.

Offensive Player of the Year
Kriekie van Wyk, Jr., Forward, Pacific

• Just the second player to earn Offensive Player of the Year honors in consecutive seasons (Daphne Voormolen, Albany – 2012, 13).
• Leads America East with 38 points and is tied for the league lead with 16 goals.
• Also a West Division All-Conference choice for the second-straight year.
• Two-time America East Offensive Player of the Week honoree this season.

Midfielder of the Year
Savannah Burns, Sr., Midfielder, Pacific

• Burns’ 35 points are tied for second among conference leaders while her 14 goals are tied for third.
• Is the Midfielder of the Year two seasons removed from being named Defensive Player of the Year.
• Earned America East Offensive Player of the Week honors on October 24.
• The senior is also a West Division All-Conference choice for the third-straight season.

Defensive Player of the Year
Frederike Helmke, Jr., Back, Albany 

• The first Great Dane to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors since 2009 (Suzy Clephane) and the fourth in program history.
• Leads an Albany defense that ranks second in the league with a 1.53 team goals against average.
• Also an East Division All-Conference selection for the second-straight year.
• Has five goals and two assists on the season. 

Goalkeeper of the Year
Kelsey Bing, So., Goalkeeper, Stanford

• The sophomore ranks fifth nationally and leads the conference with a .790 save percentage.
• Third in the conference with a 1.57 goals against average while totaling nearly six saves per contest.
•  A two-time AE Defensive Player of the Week honoree this year, Bing is the second Cardinal to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors in the last three seasons.
• Also the West Division All-Conference goalkeeper.

Rookie of the Year
Corinne Zanolli, Fr., Forward, Stanford

• Ranks fourth among league leaders with 33 points, is fifth with 12 goals and tied for fourth with nine assists.
• Three-time America East Rookie of the Week honoree this season.
• Second-straight Cardinal player to earn Rookie of the Year (Bing).
• Also a West Division All-Conference and All-Rookie team choice.

Coaching Staff of the Year
Albany

• Led by head coach Phil Sykes, this is the second-straight year the Great Danes’ staff has been honored as Coaching Staff of the Year and the fifth time ever.
• Albany earned the East #1 seed for the third-straight year and picked up their fourth-straight regular-season title.
• Currently ranked 21^st in the nation, the Great Danes beat then fifth-ranked and reigning national champion Delaware earlier this year.
• Sykes is assisted by Andy Thornton and Amy Nicklin

Twenty-two players earned All-Conference recognition while 12 were All-Rookie choices and 11 garnered All-Academic recognition. View a complete list of All-Conference, All-Rookie & All-Academic selections. 

The 2017 #AEFH Championship kicks off Thursday at UMass Lowell with cross-divisional quarterfinal action, which will be split over two days. East #1 Albany will face West #4 UC Davis in the first quarterfinal Thursday at 1 p.m. ET followed by West #1 Stanford vs. East #4 UMass Lowell at 3:30 p.m. ET. On Friday, West #2 California takes on East #3 New Hampshire at 12 p.m. ET and East #2 Maine faces West #3 Pacific at 2:30 p.m. ET. The Albany-UC Davis winner will square off with the California-New Hampshire winner in the first semifinal on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET while the Stanford-UMass Lowell winner will battle the Maine-Pacific winner in the second semifinal Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET. Saturday’s winners will square off the 2017 America East title on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

The entire championship will be streamed for free at AmericaEast.TV and be available on computers, tablets and smartphones. 

Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each round in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
 
Follow @AmericaEast and @AEDigitalNet on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEFH hashtags to join the conversation.


About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.