ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference released its individual award winners, All-Big Ten teams, All-Freshman Team and Sportsmanship Award recipients for field hockey Wednesday on the eve of the 2024 Big Ten Tournament.

Northwestern collected four individual awards and led all schools with seven all-conference selections. This was also the first year an All-Freshman Team was chosen. Voting was conducted by conference head coaches.

Maddie Zimmer of Northwestern was a unanimous selection as Player of the Year, Ashley Sessa of Northwestern was chosen Offensive Player of the Year and Josie Hollamon of Maryland tabbed Defensive Player of the Year. Northwestern’s Annabel Skubisz earned the Goalkeeper of the Year Award as a unanimous selection and Michigan State’s Carmen Pucheta received Freshman of the Year honors. Tracey Fuchs of Northwestern was named Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Zimmer has not missed a beat since returning to the Wildcats after spending a year training with the U.S. National Team. The senior midfielder exceled at both ends of the field for a Northwestern squad that outscored opponents, 66-10, during the regular season. Averaging over a point per game (1.16), Zimmer is the first Wildcat to be named Player of the Year since 1994.

Sessa is the overall leader in points (53) and a co-leader in goals (20) among her Big Ten peers — totals that rank first and second respectively in the NCAA. In Big Ten play, she produced a conference-best 10 goals and 24 points in eight games. The sophomore forward is in her first season at NU after transferring from North Carolina.

A two-year starter, Hollamon has anchored a defense that hasn’t allowed more than two goals in a game this season. At the same time, the Terrapins rank fourth in NCAA goals-against (0.87), having registered six shutouts. Hollamon becomes the fourth Maryland player to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Skubisz has produced an 18-0 record along with 11 shutouts for the No.1-ranked Wildcats. She leads the country in save percentage (.885) and ranks second in goals-against average (0.51). She has been named Goalkeeper of the Year in both years of the award’s existence.

Pucheta earned starts in all 18 games, scoring the game-winning goal in Michigan State’s 2-1 overtime victory over 16th-ranked Iowa on Oct. 25. She is the first Spartan to capture the Freshman of the Year Award since 2007 and is the school’s fourth recipient overall.

Fuchs receives her third Coach of the Year Award. Now in her 16th season at Northwestern, Fuchs led her team to the first undefeated regular season in program history and a No. 1 ranking in the NFHCA National Coaches Poll. NU captured its second-straight Big Ten regular season title while extending its conference win streak to 19 matches.

Eight players on the All-Big Ten First Team were unanimous picks — Zimmer, Sessa, Skubisz and teammate Lauren Wadas along with Maryland’s Hope Rose, Michigan’s Abby Tamer, Ohio State’s Makenna Webster and Sophia Gladieux of Penn State. Gladieux makes history as the first field hockey player to earn all-conference first team honors five-straight seasons.

The Big Ten also recognized nine Sportsmanship Award winners. The award is given to student-athletes at each institution who distinguish themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students of good academic standing have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Listed below are this year’s award honorees:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Maddie Zimmer, Sr., M, Northwestern +

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ashley Sessa, So., F, Northwestern

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Josie Hollamon, So., B, Maryland

GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Annabel Skubisz, Gr., GK, Northwestern +

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Carmen Pucheta, Fr., M, Michigan State

COACH OF THE YEAR
Tracey Fuchs, Northwestern

+ unanimous selections

ALL-BIG TEN, FIRST TEAM

NAME	SCHOOL	YR	POSITION	HOMETOWN
Inés Garcia Prado	Indiana	So.	Midfielder	Madrid, Spain
Emma Deberdine	Maryland	Gr.	Midfielder	Lancaster, Pa.
Josie Hollamon	Maryland	So.	Back	Delmar, Del.
Hope Rose +	Maryland	Sr.	Midfielder	Dauphin, Pa.
Lora Clarke	Michigan	Gr.	Midfielder	Shaker Heights, Ohio
Abby Tamer +	Michigan	Jr.	Forward	Whitmore Lake, Mich.
Carmen Pucheta	Michigan State	Fr.	Midfielder	Cordoba, Argentina
Ashley Sessa +	Northwestern	So.	Forward	Schwenksville, Pa.
Annabel Skubisz +	Northwestern	Gr.	Goalkeeper	Houston, Texas
Ilse Tromp	Northwestern	So.	Back	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Lauren Wadas +	Northwestern	Gr.	Midfielder	Annville, Pa.
Maddie Zimmer +	Northwestern	Sr.	Midfielder	Hershey, Pa.
Katie Fichtner	Ohio State	Jr.	Back	Harwood, Md.
Makenna Webster +	Ohio State	Gr.	Forward	St. Louis, Mo.
Sophia Gladieux +	Penn State	Sr.	Forward	Boyertown, Pa.
Paulina Niklaus	Rutgers	Sr.	Back	Mannheim, Germany

ALL-BIG TEN, SECOND TEAM

NAME	SCHOOL	YR	POSITION	HOMETOWN
Sofia Arrebola Garcia	Indiana	Sr.	Midfielder	Santander, Spain
Yip van Wonderen	Indiana	Sr.	Midfielder	Heemstede, Netherlands
Milly Short	Iowa	Jr.	Back	Worcester, England
Dionne van Aalsum	Iowa	So.	Forward	Castricum, Netherlands
Gia Whalen	Iowa	So.	Midfielder	Paoli, Pa.
Ella Gaitan	Maryland	Fr.	Forward	Belvidere, N.J.
Alyssa Klebasko	Maryland	So.	Goalkeeper	Odenton, Md.
Annemijn Klijnhout	Maryland	Fr.	Forward	Driebergen-Rijssenburg, Netherlands
Rayne Wright	Maryland	5th	Back	Bethlehem, Pa.
Kate McLaughlin	Michigan	Gr.	Forward	Winnetka, Ill.
Erin Reilly	Michigan	Gr.	Midfielder	Saline, Mich.
Olivia Bent-Cole	Northwestern	So.	Forward	Philadelphia, Pa.
Greta Hinke	Northwestern	Jr.	Midfielder	Mequon, Wis.
Anne Marie Krebs	Ohio State	So.	Midfielder	Louisville, Ky.
Guillermina Causarano	Rutgers	Sr.	Forward	Salta, Argentina
Puck Winter	Rutgers	Jr.	Back	Deventer, Netherlands

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

NAME	SCHOOL	YR	POSITION	HOMETOWN
Sadie Canelli	Indiana	Fr.	Goalkeeper	Boxford, Mass.
Sabrina McGroarty	Iowa	Fr.	Midfielder	Mickleton, N.J.
Ella Gaitan	Maryland	Fr.	Forward	Belvidere, N.J.
Annemijn Klijnhout	Maryland	Fr.	Forward	Driebergen-Rijssenburg, Netherlands
Anjolie Norton	Michigan	Fr.	Back	Poway, Calif.
Carmen Pucheta	Michigan State	Fr.	Midfielder	Cordoba, Argentina
Emilie Kirschner	Northwestern	R-Fr.	Midfielder	Chapel Hill, N.C.
Nadia Nemeth	Northwestern	Fr.	Forward	Malvern, Pa.
Laura Salamanca	Northwestern	Fr.	Midfielder	Santiago, Chile
Cam Standish	Ohio State	R-Fr.	Midfielder	Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Anna Cogdell	Rutgers	Fr.	Back	Badingham, England

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS

NAME	SCHOOL	YR	POSITION	HOMETOWN
Meredith Lee	Indiana	Sr.	Midfielder	Louisville, Ky.
Mia Magnotta	Iowa	Jr.	Goalkeeper	Forty-Fort, Pa.
Kylee Niswonger	Maryland	Sr.	Midfielder	Dexter, Mich.
Lindsey Stagg	Michigan	Gr.	Back	Windham, N.H.
Ellie Wheatley	Michigan State	Gr.	Back	Louisville, Ky.
Lane Herbert	Northwestern	Sr.	Forward	Celina, Texas
Cameryn Forgash	Ohio State	Sr.	Forward	Swoyersville, Pa.
Julia Lamb	Penn State	5th	Midfielder	Phoenixville, Pa.
Vicky Jure	Rutgers	Jr.	Midfielder	Funes, Argentina

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