Liberty Leads Conference With 6 All-BIG EAST Honorees
11/3/2022 10:24:35 AM | Field Hockey
BIG EAST regular season co-champion No. 19 Liberty saw a conference-best six players earn 2022 All-BIG EAST honors, it was announced on Thursday morning prior to this weekend’s BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship.
Liberty’s Bethany Dykema, Lizzie Hamlett and Charlotte Vaanhold were each voted to the All-BIG EAST first team. Jodie Conolly, Azul Iritxity Irigoyen and Daniella Rhodes were tabbed to the All-BIG EAST second team.
The Lady Flames’ six all-conference selections ties a program record and is the most among BIG EAST teams. Liberty’s three first team selections is tied for the most in the conference with Old Dominion. The Lady Flames pace all league squads with three All-BIG EAST second team honorees. In seven years in the conference, Liberty has featured 35 total all-conference recipients (24 first team, 11 second team).
The awards were determined by voting from BIG EAST coaches who cannot cast ballots for their own players.
Liberty (10-7) posted a 6-1 BIG EAST regular season record this fall to earn a share of the regular season title alongside No. 13 Old Dominion (14-2, 6-1 BIG EAST). The Lady Flames, the No. 2 seed, will meet No. 3 seed and 14th-ranked Connecticut (11-6, 5-2 BIG EAST) in Friday’s second semifinal contest at 4 p.m. The match will be held at ODU’s L.R. Hill Sports Complex in Norfolk , Va.
Bethany Dykema (All-BIG EAST first team)
A senior, Dykema is being recognized on the All-BIG EAST first team for the second straight year. Dykema is also a three-time All-BIG EAST honoree, having received second team honors during the spring 2021 season. The defender was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on three occasions (Aug. 30, Sept. 20, Oct. 4), this fall.
In 17 games this season, all starts, Dykema has seven goals (tied for fourth on team), 10 assists (tied for first on squad) and 24 points (third on team). Her 0.59 assists per game is the 22nd-best mark in the country. The senior from Newport News, Va. ranked second on the team in conference play with five assists. Dykema added three goals and 11 points in seven BIG EAST games.
Dykema and the Liberty defensive unit have a program-record 10 shutouts in 2022 and lead the country in shutouts per game (0.59). In the Lady Flames’ 10 victories this year, they have outscored their counterparts 53-1.
Dykema has scored two goals in two separate games this season and also has a pair of two-assist contests. The back tallied two assists in Liberty’s 4-0 regular season triumph at No. 9 Connecticut, Sept. 23.
Lizzie Hamlett (All-BIG EAST first team)
This is Hamlett’s second career BIG EAST All-Conference team award and first time being named to the first team after she earned second team honors a season ago. The midfielder from Fredericksburg, Va. received BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week recognition on Oct. 4 and was a two-time BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll recipient (Sept. 20, Oct. 25) during the regular season.
Hamlett has started all 17 matches during her fifth and final campaign and shares the team lead with 10 goals, a career high. She also has tallied six assists (tied for No. 4 on team) and 26 points (No. 2 on squad). In seven BIG EAST contests, Hamlett totaled six goals, two assists and 14 points. Her 14 points are tied for the most in the league, while her six goals are tied for the second most in the BIG EAST.
Hamlett has four two-goal games to her credit in 2022, including a multiple-goal effort in Liberty’s 3-1 triumph over Providence (Oct. 21). The midfielder racked up a career-high six points (2 g, 2 a), in the Lady Flames’ season-opening 9-0 win over Kent State, Aug. 27 in Bloomington, Ind. Hamlett is currently tied for ninth in program history with 26 career goals.
Charlotte Vaanhold (All-BIG EAST first team)
Vaanhold’s first team selection is the second of her career (other: spring 2021). The Hollandsche Rading, Netherlands native is a three-time All-BIG EAST honoree, having received second team honors as well in 2019. The senior forward was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll once this fall (Oct. 11).
Vaanhold has started all 17 games during her final season with the Lady Flames, compiling nine goals (third on team), two assists and 20 points (fourth on team). In seven BIG EAST games, she notched six goals, tied for second most in the league, and one assist for 13 points.
The senior has three two-goal games this year. Vaanhold is No. 6 in program history in career goals with 38 and ranks eighth in career points (88).
Jodie Conolly (All-BIG EAST second team)
Conolly is now a three-time All-BIG EAST honoree (two second team, one first team), earning the awards in each of the past three seasons (spring 2021, fall 2021, 2022). The senior back was tabbed to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor in back-to-back weeks (Oct. 18, Oct. 25) in the month of October.
Conolly has appeared in and started 16 contests. The Pietermartizburg, South Africa native ranks third on the squad with nine assists while adding five goals and 19 points (fifth on team). She is also one of three Lady Flames with a defensive save this year, as she made the stop at Providence (Oct. 21). Despite missing one league game, Conolly led the BIG EAST with six assists in six league games and had two goals for 12 points.
Conolly and her fellow defender, Bethany Dykema, are key members of a Liberty defense which leads the country in shutouts per game (0.59) and ranks seventh nationally in goals-against-average (1.03). The Lady Flames defense has surrendered only two goals on 67 penalty corners for their opposition.
Azul Iritxity Irigoyen (All-BIG EAST second team)
Iritxity Irigoyen is being honored as a BIG EAST all-conference player for a third consecutive season. The junior from Buenos Aires, Argentina earned her eighth career BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honor on Sept. 27 and garnered inclusion on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice (Oct. 11, Oct. 18), this fall.
Iritxity Irigoyen has started all 17 games in goal for the Lady Flames, compiling a 10-7 record, 1.08 goals-against-average (No. 12 in nation), eight shutouts, .714 save percentage and 45 saves. Iritxity Irigoyen’s eight clean sheets this season are a new program record, while Liberty’s 10 shutouts overall are also a new school record. The junior is also the program record holder for career shutouts with 17. In seven BIG EAST matches, Iritxity Irigoyen holds a 6-1 record with a 0.14 goals-against-average (GAA), six shutouts, a .947 save percentage and 18 saves. In league games, she led the conference in GAA, shutouts and save percentage.
The netminder made five saves in a 4-0 shutout at No. 9 UConn, Sept. 23. Iritxity Irigoyen totaled a season-high seven saves at defending national champion No. 1 Northwestern, Sept. 9. Iritxity Irigoyen and the Lady Flames defensive unit surrendered only one goal in seven BIG EAST matches.
Daniella Rhodes (All-BIG EAST second team)
Rhodes, a senior forward, is now a four-time All-BIG EAST selection. The Durban, South Africa native, last year’s BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, has earned All-BIG EAST first team honors three times as well. This fall, Rhodes was named NFHCA Division I Offensive Player of the Week once (Sept. 28) and earned her sixth and seventh career BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week awards (Aug. 30, Sept. 27).
Rhodes, who appeared in 16 regular season games (15 starts), shares the team lead in goals (10) and assists (10) and paces the team in points (30) and game-winning goals (3). The senior currently ranks 15th in the country in points per game (1.88),16th in assists per game (0.62) and 28th in goals per game (0.62).
Rhodes played in six BIG EAST matches, tallying four goals, five assists and 13 points. She has three multiple-goal games in 2022, including a two-goal, one-assist, five-point effort in the Lady Flames’ 4-0 win at UConn. Rhodes scored her 50th career goal on Sept. 11 at home versus Queens. She is currently tied for second in program history with 55 goals and ranks second in points with 142.
BIG EAST Awards
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year
Marlon de Bruijne, Old Dominion, Jr., F*
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Cam MacGillivray, Old Dominion, Gr., GK
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Sol Simone, Connecticut, Fr., M
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Old Dominion
All-BIG EAST First Team
Claire Jandewerth, Connecticut, Sr., D
Sol Simone, Connecticut, Fr., M
Charlotte Vaanhold, Liberty, Sr., F
Bethany Dykema, Liberty, Sr., D
Lizzie Hamlett, Liberty, Sr., M
Cam MacGillivray, Old Dominion, Gr., GK
Delphine Le Jeune, Old Dominion, Sr., M*
Marlon de Bruijne, Old Dominion, Jr., F*
Stella Tegtmeier, Quinnipiac, Sr., M
Tess Muller, Temple, Gr., M
Nienke Oerlemans, Temple, So., D
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Julia Bressler, Connecticut, Fr., F
Cheyenne Sprecher, Connecticut, Gr., GK
Azul Iritxity Irigoyen, Liberty, Jr., GK
Jodie Conolly, Liberty, Sr., D
Daniella Rhodes, Liberty, Sr., F
Frederique Zandbergen, Old Dominion, So., M
Nora Goddard-Despot, Providence, Sr., M
Emilia Massarelli, Quinnipiac, So., F
McKenna Burkhardt, Temple, Sr., D
Meghan Mitchell, Villanova, Jr., F
Sabine De Ruijter, Villanova, Jr., D
*denotes unanimous selection