Hopkinton, Massachusetts, junior attack earns national Division II weekly award for second-straight week after collecting NE10 Player of the Week for fourth time
IWLCA National Player of the Week Awards
EASTON, Mass. (April 27, 2022) – Stonehill College junior attack Lydia Rudden has been named the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II Offensive Player of the Week for the second-straight week the organization announced.
Rudden earns the national award for the second time in her career, in as many weeks, after being named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks and for the fourth time this season overall on Monday. She is the first Stonehill student-athlete to collect IWLCA weekly honors twice, after racking up a team-high 17 points with five goals and a team-leading 12 assists in a 2-0 week for the Skyhawks, that included a 14-13 overtime triumph over then No. 2/3 Adelphi University. She also contributed three ground balls, two caused turnovers and a draw control for the week and converted one of two free-position shots.
Rudden totaled a team-high eight points with a goal and game-high seven assists in Saturday's overtime triumph against Adelphi, adding a draw control. She dished two of her five second half assists in the fourth quarter on goals that knotted the score and then gave the Skyhawks the lead with 1:43 remaining in regulation after trailing by three heading into the fourth. Rudden totaled nine points with four goals and five assists in Wednesday's 20-6 win over Southern Connecticut State University, adding three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Rudden, who also collected NE10 Player of the Week accolades on February 28, March 21 and April 17, has started all 14 games for Stonehill this spring and leads the NE10, while ranking fifth nationally in Division II with 92 points, having dished out a Division II-leading 60 assists to go with 32 goals that rank fifth on the team and 21st in the Conference. She has converted 8-of-19 free-position shots and chipped in with 18 ground balls, six caused turnovers and three draw controls for the season. Rudden ranks second nationally in Division II with 3.92 assists per game, while her 6.31 points per game rank fourth.
Rudden is just the second Skyhawk to earn IWLCA Player of the Week honors and the first two-time selection (PHOTO BY Crystal Ayn Photography) |
Rudden enters the final week of the regular season eight points shy of posting just the third 100-point season in program history (16th all-time in the NE10) and the first since Jenny McGrath, '06 totaled a program-record 110 points in 2006. Her Division II-leading 60 assists are currently tied for sixth in NE10 history and six shy of the program record of 66 by McGrath 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 14 games this season and 20-straight games dating back to last year, dishing out multiple assists in 12-straight games and scoring multiple goals in ten games this spring.
Rudden, selected as Stonehill's Spring Rookie of the Year in 2020, has started 26 of the 27 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 138 points with 49 goals and 89 assists – a total that is tied for seventh on the programs' all-time list. Rudden, an NE10 Academic All-Conference selection as a sophomore, has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester to date. 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.
Stonehill (12-2, 10-1 NE10), ranked No. 2 in the first NCAA Division II East Regional ranking of the season announced last Wednesday, moved up five spots to No. 9 in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll and three spots to No. 8 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Division II poll. The Skyhawks close out the regular season with a pair of home games this week, starting Wednesday night against Southern New Hampshire University, among teams receiving votes in the IWLCA poll, at W.B. Mason Stadium at 7p.m. Saint Anselm, ranked No. 23 in the IWLCA poll, visits for Senior Day at W.B. Mason Stadium on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
Stonehill has the inside track on the top seed for the upcoming NE10 Tournament after Saturday's win over Adelphi. While the two teams are currently tied atop the Conference standings, the Skyhawks hold the head-to-head tiebreaker for the top seed and would host throughout the Championship should they remain tied.
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