ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced its individual award winners, All-Big Ten teams, All-Freshman Team and Sportsmanship Award recipients for field hockey on Tuesday on the eve of the 2026 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament Presented by Allstate.
Northwestern collected four of the six individual awards while Maryland led all schools with eight all-conference selections. Voting was conducted by conference head coaches.
Northwestern’s Ashley Sessa was named Big Ten Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year. Ilse Tromp of Northwestern was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year, Maryland’s Alyssa Klebasko was selected Goalkeeper of the Year, Maryland’s Ella Beach received the Freshman of the Year Award and Tracey Fuchs of Northwestern was named Coach of the Year.
Sessa led all players with eight goals during the Big Ten campaign and captured the conference scoring title for the second-straight season. The senior forward led Northwestern in scoring (34 points) while helping the Wildcats to a share of the Big Ten regular season title. She is the third NU player in as many seasons to win the player of the year award and is a three-time recipient of the offensive player of the year award.
Tromp has anchored one of the NCAA’s top defenses as the Wildcats are allowing less than a goal per game (0.82). Playing primarily at back, Tromp shared the team lead for goals (12) and was a key contributor to NU’s penalty corner unit. She is a two-time recipient of the defensive player award.
Klebasko has started 67-straight games in the cage dating to her freshman season. She posted career-best numbers this season with a 0.87 goals-against average and 15 wins. Klebasko backstopped Maryland to a share of the Big Ten regular season crown and becomes the first Terrapin to win the goaltender of the year award, which was instituted in 2023.
Beach started all 17 games at midfield and finished fourth in team scoring with 15 points. She was the Terrapin’s top rookie point-producer and received back-to-back Big Ten Freshman of the Week Awards on Oct. 26 and Nov. 2. Beach’s selection gives Maryland four of the past six freshmen of the year winners.
Fuchs earns her fifth Coach of the Year Award and fourth in a row. In her 18th season at Northwestern, Fuchs led the Wildcats to a 16-2 overall record and a share of the Big Ten Championship with a 7-1 conference record. Her team was also ranked No. 1 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA National Coaches Poll for eight weeks.
Six players on the All-Big Ten First Team were unanimous picks: Northwestern’s Sessa, Tromp and Olivia Bent-Cole along with Iowa teammates Dionne van Aalsum and Fréderique van Cleef and Maryland’s Josie Hollamon.
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:
BIG TEN FIELD HOCKEY POSTSEASON AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ashley Sessa, Sr., F, Northwestern
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ashley Sessa, Sr., F, Northwestern
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ilse Tromp, Sr., B, Northwestern
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Alyssa Klebasko, Sr., G, Maryland
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Ella Beach, Fr., M, Maryland
COACH OF THE YEAR
Tracey Fuchs, Northwestern
ALL-BIG TEN, FIRST TEAM
Inés Garcia Prado, 4th, M, Indiana
Mijntje Hagen, 3rd, F, Indiana
Jordan Byers, 2nd, M, Iowa
Dionne van Aalsum, 4th, M, Iowa +
Fréderique van Cleef, 5th, F, Iowa +
Ella Beach, Fr., M, Maryland
Francisca Eschoyez, Jr., M, Maryland
Josie Hollamon, Sr., B, Maryland +
Alyssa Klebasko, Sr., G, Maryland
Babs van Hest, Jr., F, Maryland
Olivia Bent-Cole, Sr., F, Northwestern +
Laura Salamanca, Jr., M, Northwestern
Ashley Sessa, Sr., F, Northwestern +
Ilse Tromp, Sr., B, Northwestern +
Sienna Dunn, Gr., M, Penn State
Ella Gaitan, Jr., F, Penn State
ALL-BIG TEN, SECOND TEAM
Téa Fortpied, 2nd, B, Iowa
Gia Whalen, 4th, F, Iowa
Maci Bradford, Sr., F, Maryland
Jordyn Hollamon, So., F, Maryland
Feliz Kuhne, So., M, Maryland
Anjolie Norton, Jr., B, Michigan
Lilian Knorr, Jr., M, Michigan State
Juliana Boon, Jr., G, Northwestern
Katie Fichtner, Gr., B, Ohio State
Anne Marie Krebs, Sr., M, Ohio State
Olivia Marthins, So., M/F, Penn State
Lara Pyle, So., M/F, Penn State
Anna Cogdell, Jr., B/M, Rutgers
Eden Doucelin, Fr., B, Rutgers
Olivia Fraticelli, Sr., F, Rutgers
Talia Schenck, 5th, F, Rutgers
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Gabriela Garayo Aranceta, 1st, M, Indiana
Reine van Hoof, 1st, F, Iowa
Ella Beach, Fr., M, Maryland +
Aida Ierubino, Fr., M, Maryland +
Raquel Hofmeister, Fr., F, Northwestern
Bree Moffett, Fr., B, Northwestern
Kiera Sack, Fr., M, Northwestern
Lilly Holmes, Fr., B, Penn State
Kira Takahashi-Trader, Fr., M/B, Penn State
Eden Doucelin, Fr., B, Rutgers
Ella Gandy, Fr., M, Rutgers
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Javi Baeza, 4th, M, Indiana
Niamh de Jong, 2nd, M, Iowa
Ella Fehr, Jr., M, Maryland
Natalie Millman, Sr., F, Michigan
Bianca Pizano, Sr., F, Michigan State
Lindsey Brown, So., M, Northwestern
Reagan Eickhoff, Sr., F, Ohio State
Emmy McCulley, Sr., M/F, Penn State
Talia Schenck, 5th, F, Rutgers
+ unanimous selections