Rudden earns Player of the Week honors for third time
Sullivan named NE10 Defensive Player of the Week for fourth-straight week, fifth time this season overall
NE10 Women's Lacrosse Weekly Report
Sullivan earns NE10 Defensive Player of the Week honors for the fourth-straight week and fifth time this season overall (PHOTO BY Jon Bourque) |
EASTON, Mass. (April 18, 2022) – Two members of the nationally-ranked Stonehill College women's lacrosse program have earned weekly honors from the Northeast-10 Conference the league announced today.
Junior attack Lydia Rudden has been named the NE10's Player of the Week for the third time this season, while senior preseason All-American Emma Sullivan has earned NE10 Defensive Player of the Week accolades for the fourth-straight week and fifth time this season overall, marking her sixth weekly honor of the spring in total. The duo led Stonehill to a 2-0 week, that included its fifth win over a nationally-ranked opponent this spring with Wednesday's 15-13 win at No. 12/14 Pace University.
Rudden led the Stonehill attack as she totaled 18 points with seven goals and 11 assists for the week, also contributing four ground balls and a caused turnover, converting 2-of-3 free-position shot attempts. She opened the week with eight points on three goals and five assists in Wednesday's 15-13 comeback win at No. 12/14 Pace, scoring the go-ahead goal with two-minutes to play as the Skyhawks closed the game with a 5-0 run to erase its second three-goal deficit of the second half for the win. Rudden then matched her career-high with ten points on four goals and six assists in Saturday's 15-3 win at Saint Michael's College, chipping in a team and career-high matching four ground balls.
Sullivan led Stonehill's defensive effort that allowed 8.00 goals per game on 23.0 shots, including 16.5 shots on goal, per game, while forcing 20.5 turnovers per game for the week. She totaled 20 draw controls, seven caused turnovers and nine ground balls over the two games, leading the Skyhawks possession game that produced a 33-21 advantage on draws. Sullivan contributed on the attack with six goals, including the 100th of her career, and an assist for seven points. She totaled nine draw controls, five caused turnovers and six ground balls, while netting a goal, in Wednesday's 15-13 comeback win at No. 12/14 Pace, and then contributed 11 draws, three ground balls and two caused turnovers, with five goals and an assist for six points at Saint Michael's on Saturday, scoring her 100th career goal in the 15-3 win.
Rudden |
Sullivan |
Rudden, who also earned NE10 Player of the Week honors on February 28 and March 21, has started all 12 games for Stonehill this spring and leads the NE10 in scoring with 75 points, having dished out an NE10-best 48 assists to go with 27 goals that rank fourth on the team and 20th in the Conference. She has converted 7-of-17 free-position shots and chipped in with 15 ground balls, four caused turnovers and two draw controls for the season. Rudden ranks fourth nationally in Division II in assists, while her 3.83 assists per game ranks second in the country and she ranks 18th in scoring and fifth with 6.08 points per game.
Rudden's 48 assists are tied for second on Stonehill's all-time single season list along with her older sister, Brooke Rudden, '15 who also dished out 48 assists in 2015. The duo is 18 shy of the single-season record of 66 assists by Jenny McGrath, '06 in 2006. Rudden has dished out a career-high ten points in two games this season, including the Skyhawks 20-14 season-opening win at Molloy College in which she matched the program's single-game record with eight assists. She has recorded multiple points in all 12 games this season and 18-straight games dating back to last year, dishing out multiple assists in ten-straight games and scoring multiple goals in three-straight.
Rudden, selected as Stonehill's Spring Rookie of the Year in 2020, has started 24 of the 25 games she has played over her collegiate career. She joined Sullivan in the program's 100-point club in a win over then No. 25 The College of Saint Rose on April 5 and has now totaled 121 points with 44 goals and 71 assists – a total that is tied for eighth on the programs' all-time list. Rudden, who has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester to date, has converted 9-of-25 free-position shots and totaled 27 ground balls and five caused turnovers for her career. She was recognized earlier this month with her second Saint Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medal for having the highest cumulative grade point average on the team.
Rudden is the NE10 Player of the Week for the third time this spring. (PHOTO BY Crystal Ayn Photography) |
Sullivan, who has collected NE10 Defensive Player of the Week accolades five times (March 1, 28, April 4, 11 and today) to go with NE10 Player of the Week honors on March 14, was named a preseason All-American by USA Lacrosse Magazine. She has started all 12 games for Stonehill this spring and is second to Rudden on the team and among NE10 scoring leaders with 56 points, having scored a team-high 43 goals that is tied for second in the NE10 (just one shy of the lead), while her 13 assists are third on the team (16th NE10), ranking 27th nationally in Division II with her 3.58 goals per game and 35th with 4.67 points per game. Sullivan leads the NE10 with 101 draw controls, 49 ground balls and 32 caused turnovers, while her .623 shot percentage (43 goals on 69 shots) ranks fourth in the NE10. She ranks fifth among NCAA Division II leaders for ground balls (4.08) and caused turnovers per game (2.67) and sixth in draw controls per game (8.42).
Sullivan has posted the fourth 100-draw control season in program history with her 101 so far ranking fourth on Stonehill's all-time single-season list, while her 32 caused turnovers are two shy of cracking the program's single-season list. She has scored multiple goals in 11 of 12 games this season, with a career-high matching five in five games.
Sullivan, the 2021 NE10 Northeast Division Midfielder of the Year, has started 41 of her 43 career games played and totaled 103 goals and 28 assists for 131 points, recording her 100th career point in Stonehill's 19-2 win at American International College on March 23 and then surpassing 100 career goals on Saturday. She has contributed 108 ground balls, 186 draw controls (4th all-time at Stonehill) and 57 caused turnovers (T-14th all-time) in her career, converting 9-of-18 free-position shot attempts. Sullivan earned All-East Region honors from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and All-NE10 third team accolades as a junior and received Stonehill's "Breakout Sophomore" Award in 2020. Sullivan has also earned NE10 Academic Honor Roll status for her efforts in the classroom.
Stonehill (10-2, 8-1 NE10), up one more spot to No. 14 in this week's IWLCA Division II poll and two spots to No. 11 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Division II poll, opens the final two weeks of the regular season in which it will play its remaining four games at W.B. Mason Stadium with two games this week. After hosting Southern Connecticut State University on Wednesday at 7 p.m., the Skyhawks will host No. 2-ranked Adelphi University for it Alumnae Game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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