FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2016
EASTON, Mass. – Stonehill sophomore goalkeeper Sara Freedman has been named the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II Defensive Player of the Week by the organization this afternoon.
Freedman, who was also named the Northeast-10 Conference's Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time this season on Monday, is the first Stonehill student-athlete to earn Longstreth/NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week honors in the first year of the weekly awards program, but the second Skyhawk honored with national weekly honors after classmate Kacie Smith was named the Division II Offensive Player of the Week on September 21.
Freedman backboned Stonehill to a 2-0 week as she posted a 0.97 goals against average and .889 save percentage while averaging 8.0 saves per game with a shutout. She opened the week with four saves in a 2-0 shutout win against Southern New Hampshire University on Tuesday, and then matched her season and career-high with 12 stops in Saturday's 3-2 overtime victory at Assumption College.
Freedman, who also logged a career-best 12 saves in Stonehill's season-opening 2-1 setback to then top-ranked East Stroudsburg University, has played all 634:56 in the Skyhawks goal in her nine starts, ranking seventh among Northeast-10 leaders with her 1.43 goals against average (14th nationally), fourth with a .819 save percentage (8th) and third with 6.6 saves per game (8th) with a Conference-leading four shutouts. She has posted ten or more saves in three games this season and also collected Goalkeeper of the Week accolades on September 12 after a pair of shutout wins over nationally-ranked teams.
Freedman, who has earned NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Week accolades three times overall, has started 26 of 29 games played over her two year career at Stonehill, posting a 1.83 GAA and .771 save percentage with 165 saves (5.7 per game) and six shutouts in 1,876:09. She already ranks seventh in program history for career saves and earned Synapse Sports Division II All-Rookie Team and NE-10 All-Rookie Team accolades as a freshman, with her 106 saves ranking eighth on the program's single-season list.
Freedman also earned a spot on the NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll for the spring semester and was named the Conference's Rookie of the Week.
Information for this release provided by the Stonehill athletics communications staff
ABOUT THE NORTHEAST-10
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,500 student-athletes.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.