Laura van der Doorn earns NFHCA Division II East Region Player of the Year honors
GILBERT, Ariz. – Southern New Hampshire field hockey senior Laura van der Doorn was named the 2019 First Point USA/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II East Region Player of the Year on Thursday, as the organization announced its second round of postseason awards.
The First Point USA/NFHCA Regional Players of the Year are presented to two student-athletes in Division II Field Hockey. In addition to van der Doorn's selection, West Chester University's Katie Thompson was chosen as the Atlantic Region Player of the Year.
van der Doorn becomes Southern New Hampshire's first regional Player of the Year just one day after being named one of the program's first-ever First Team All-Americans. The 2019 NE10 Player of the Year, van der Doorn turned in the finest season of her career with a program and NE10-best 15 goals to go along with five assists for 35 points. She was second on the team and league in total points, eighth nationally in goals, and ranked No. 11 in points in all of NCAA Division II Field Hockey. van der Doorn was was one of just six student-athletes to eclipse the 30-point plateau in the Northeast-10 and among 17 nationally to do so. She was named First Team All-Conference for the second consecutive season. After being the first Southern New Hampshire University student-athlete to earn First Team laurels a season ago, van der Doorn became the first four-time All-Conference selection in program history with a Second Team designation in 2017 and All-Rookie Team choice in 2016 to go along with her two First Team nods.
Southern New Hampshire turned in its most successful season in program history in 2019, which included an at-large berth into the 2019 NCAA Division II National Championship. The Penmen set a school record for wins (17), conference wins (12), postseason wins (2), consecutive wins (11) and highest national ranking (5). SNHU also set a new program benchmark for goals in a season with 68, which topped the previous best of 47 set in 2017. After not earning a national ranking in their first five seasons of competition, the Penmen entered the NFHCA Division II National Coaches Poll on September 17 and never dropped out of the top-10.
- Information courtesy of Southern New Hampshire athletic communications
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