Big Ten Announces Field Hockey Postseason Honors

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

Rutgers took home two individual awards while Northwestern garnered seven all-conference selections. Voting was conducted by conference head coaches.

Iris Langejans of Rutgers was named Player of the Year, Sophia Gladieux of Penn State chosen Offensive Player of the Year and Puck Winter of Rutgers tabbed Defensive Player of the Year. Northwestern’s Annabel Skubisz became recipient of the new Goalkeeper of the Year Award and Iowa’s Dionne van Aalsum received Freshman of the Year honors. Tracey Fuchs of Northwestern was a unanimous selection as Coach of the Year.

A senior defender, Langejans has led Rutgers to a 15-2 record overall, a 15-game winning streak and a No. 5 national ranking. She has started all 17 games and is averaging 62 minutes of field time per game. She becomes the second Scarlet Knight to be named Player of the Year.

Gladieux adds another honor to her impressive collegiate resume, earning Offensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season to go along with her 2022 Player of the Year Award. The senior forward scored a league-best nine goals during conference play and stands third nationally with 20 goals.

Winter was twice chosen Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and ranks second nationally with nine defensive saves. A sophomore back, she contributes offensively as well, having produced the second-most goals (8) and points (16) on the squad. She is the first Rutgers player to receive the defensive award since the Scarlet Knights joined the conference in 2015.

Skubisz has backstopped Northwestern to a school-record 16-straight wins, producing 11 shutouts during that span. She owns the top goals-against average (0.52) and save percentage (.859) in the NCAA. The senior was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week four times this season.

Iowa’s van Aalsum made an immediate impact as a rookie, scoring 21 goals in her first eight games as the Hawkeyes ascended to No. 1 in the country. She leads the NCAA with 27 goals and 60 points in 17 games. She is the sixth Iowa player to capture the freshman award and the first since 2016.

Fuchs receives her second Coach of the Year Award, the other coming in 2013, as Northwestern marches towards a historic season. The Wildcats have gone unbeaten since dropping their season opener and have spent the past four weeks ranked No. 1 in the NFHCA National Coaches Poll. The Wildcats stand 16-1 overall and earned the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament by capturing the regular season title.

Four players on the All-Big Ten First Team were unanimous picks — Langejans, Gladieux, Maryland’s Hope Rose and Northwestern’s Lauren Wadas. Gladieux becomes just the seventh field hockey player to earn all-conference first team honors four-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

Iris Langejans, Rutgers

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Sophia Gladieux, Penn State

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Puck Winter, Rutgers

GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR

Annabel Skubisz, Northwestern

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Dionne van Aalsum, Iowa

COACH OF THE YEAR

Tracey Fuchs, Northwestern +

ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM

ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM

Teams includes an additional 17th player due to a tie in voting

+ unanimous selections

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS