Rudden named NE10 Player of the Week for second time this spring
Faley earns NE10 Rookie of the Week accolades for first team
NE10 Women's Lacrosse Weekly Report
Rudden earns NE10 Player of the Week honors for the second time this season (PHOTO BY Crystal Ayn Photography) |
EASTON, Mass. (March 21, 2022) – Two members of the newly nationally-ranked Stonehill College women's lacrosse program have collected weekly honors from the Northeast-10 Conference for their roles in a 2-0 week to open NE10 play, including a huge Saturday triumph over No. 2-ranked Le Moyne College, the Conference office announced today.
Junior attack Lydia Rudden has been named the NE10 Player of the Week for the second time this season – the second-straight week and third time a Stonehill student-athlete has received the recognition over the opening month of the season, while freshman goalkeeper Sarah Faley has collected NE10 Rookie of the Week honors for the first time.
The duo earn the weekly recognition after helping lead Stonehill to a 2-0 week to open the NE10 season, capped by Saturday's 17-14 triumph over Le Moyne, ranked No. 2 at the time in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll. Saturday's win marks Stonehill's highest-ranked victory since a 13-10 triumph over No. 2 West Chester (Pa.) University in the 2005 NCAA National Championship game in which Stonehill was ranked No. 1 in the country to cap off its 21-0 season with the program's second National Championship in three years. It marked the Skyhawks third win in 14 all-time meetings with Le Moyne dating back to 2011 and its first since winning both matchups during the 2014 season, snapping Le Moyne's 27-game winning streak in NE10 games dating back to April 25, 2018. The Skyhawks pinned the highest goal total against the Dolphins since Adelphi University netted 18 in an NCAA semifinal decision in 2011.
Rudden totaled a team-high 12 points with five goals and a team-best seven assists for Stonehill over the two wins, converting 2-of-3 free-position shot attempts and chipping in with a ground ball and draw control. She shared the team lead with five points on three goals and two assists in Saturday's win over Le Moyne, after registering seven points with two goals and a team-best five assists in Tuesday's 22-11 win at Franklin Pierce University.
Rudden |
Faley |
Faley posted an 11.33 goals against average with 7.5 saves per game over the two games in goal for Stonehill, collecting two ground balls and posting a .469 save percentage in 90-minutes played. She recorded a season-high 11 saves, with a ground ball in notching the win against No. 2 Le Moyne on Saturday. She made four stops in the second half of play, yielding just three goals, at Franklin Pierce on Tuesday.
Rudden, who was named the NE10 Player of the Week for the first time in her career on February 28, joins senior preseason All-American Emma Sullivan in earning the honors in back-to-back weeks after the Skyhawks captain collected the award last week. Rudden has started all five games for Stonehill this season and leads the NE10 and is ranked tenth nationally in Division II with her 19 assists, ranking sixth nationally with 6.20 points per game, having totaled an NE10-best 31 for the season with 12 goals (12th NE10). She has converted 4-of-9 (44.4-percent) of her free-position shot attempts for the season, chipping in three ground balls, two caused turnovers and a draw control.
Rudden has posted four points or more in all five games for Stonehill this spring, with five or more in four of those contests. She registered a career-high ten points in the Skyhawks 20-14 season-opening win at Molloy College on February 27, in which she matched a program record with her career-best eight assists. Rudden has notched multiple points in 11-straight games dating back to last season and 17 of 18 career games played.
Rudden has started 17 of the 18 games she has played over her abbreviated three-year career at Stonehill, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has totaled 29 goals and 48 assists for 77 points in that time, adding 15 ground balls and three caused turnovers. Rudden, named Stonehill's Spring Rookie of the Year in 2020, has received the Saint Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medal for having the highest cumulative grade point average on the team and earned NE10 Academic All-Conference honors as a sophomore. She has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll all five semesters to date, with Academic Excellence status for having a semester GPA of 4.0.
Faley has appeared in all five games in the Stonehill goal during her first collegiate season, starting four and playing 236:45 of the team's 300-minutes. She ranks eighth among NE10 goalkeeping leaders with her 12.42 goals against average, while ranking ninth with 6.00 saves per game and ninth with a .380 save percentage. Saturday's season-high 11 save performance against No. 2 Le Moyne marked her first double-figure save total of the season. She registered five stops in the Skyhawks season-opening win at Molloy, while adding seven at Lynn University on March 7.
Stonehill (4-1, 2-0 NE10), which returned to the IWLCA Division II national poll for the first time in four years at No. 24 in this week's poll released on Monday, is back in action with a pair of road games this season. The Skyhawks visit American International College on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., before heading to rival Bentley University, ranked No. 14 this week, on Saturday at 4 p.m. Stonehill returns to W.B. Mason Stadium next Wednesday, March 30, to host No. 19 Assumption University at 7 p.m.
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