Freedman Earns Second NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Week Award

Hopkinton, Mass., sophomore posts shutout, averages eight saves in 2-0 week

NE-10 Field Hockey Weekly Release

EASTON, Mass. (October 3, 2016) – Stonehill College sophomore Sara Freedman (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference's Goalkeeper of the Week for field hockey for the second time this season, the league office announced today.

Freedman, who earns Goalkeeper of the Week accolades for the third time in her career, 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 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

Stonehill (7-2, 4-1 NE-10), ranked No. 5 in the most recent Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, has a pair of home games at W.B. Mason Stadium this week, starting Wednesday night when it hosts Franklin Pierce University for its Play for the Cure game at 7 p.m. The field hockey team will be accepting donations for Play for the Cure as well as Lace Up for Pediatric Cancer at the game. The Skyhawks close out the week with their Senior Day game against rival Bentley University on Saturday at 11 a.m.

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market. Stonehill will serve as host of the 2016 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship at W.B. Mason Stadium, November 18-20.