Four Owls Earn Postseason Honors

PHILADELPHIA - After a successful season under challenging circumstances, four Temple field hockey players earned postseason honors for their efforts on the field. Graduate student Veronika Novakova was named to the All-Conference First Team, while senior Cristina Carotenuto, freshman Kaitlyn Cummins, and junior Nienke Oerlemans were named to the All-Conference Second Team.

"I am so proud of our entire team and I'm happy to see four of our student-athletes get some recognition for their massive effort to help us put this program back in a place to compete in the BIG EAST Championships," head coach Susan Ciufo said. "Veronika, Cristina, Nienke, and Kaitlyn are a phenomenal representation of Temple TUFF. We are excited for the future and thankful for the work put in by the current team to help us reach our goals!"

Novakova and Oerlemans lead the team with four goals apiece, with Novakova scoring three game-winners. The Prague, Czech Republic native is an offensive powerhouse, firing a team-leading 24 shots and recording five assists.

Oerlemans leads a strong backline which has allowed just 91 shots on goal this year. The Apeldoorn, Netherlands native has put six of her seven shots on target, and shares penalty corner inserting duties with Novakova.

Cummins has had a banner freshman season, earning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors after an impressive performance in the season opener. The Laurel Springs, N.J. native scored her first career goal and recorded her first assist against Providence, and has put four of her six shots on target.

Carotenuto has been clutch in the cage, allowing 25 goals and posting 62 saves for a 1.41 GAA. She has recorded five shutouts and leads the conference in shutouts per game. The Allentown, Pa. native leads the team in weekly conference honors, being named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll four times this season.

Temple will compete in the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time since 2016, facing the No. 1 seed UConn in the semifinals on Thursday at 1 p.m.

BIG EAST Field Hockey Major Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Sophie Hamilton, Connecticut, So., M

Defensive Player of the Year
Azul Iritxity Irigoyen, Liberty, Fr., GK

Co-Freshmen of the Year
Claire van den Noort, Connecticut, Fr., B
Azul Iritxity Irigoyen, Liberty, Fr., GK
Marlon de Bruijne, Old Dominion, Fr., F

Coaching Staff of the Year
Liberty

First Team *
Azul Iritxity Irigoyen, Liberty, Fr., GK
Kourtney Kennedy, UConn, Sr., B
Delphine Le Jeune, Old Dominion, So., B/M ^
Veronika Novakova, Temple, Grad/Sr., M
Sophie Hamilton, UConn, So., M ^
Madison Babineau, Providence, Sr., M
Jess Dembrowski, UConn, Sr., F
Jill Bolton, Liberty, Sr., F
Jodie Connolly, Liberty, So., F
Daniella Rhodes, Liberty, So., F ^
Charlotte Vaanhold, Liberty, Jr., F
Marlon de Bruijne, Old Dominion, Fr., F

Second Team *
Cheyenne Sprecher, UConn, Jr., GK
Cristina Carotenuto, Temple, Sr., GK
Lindsay Dickinson, UConn, Jr., B
Claire van den Noort, UConn, Fr., B
Bethany Dykema, Liberty, So., B
Marlee McClendon, Old Dominion, R-Sr., B
Jessie Halley, Quinnipiac, Jr., CB
Nienke Oerlemans, Temple, Jr., D
Sabine Deruijter, Villanova, Fr., B
Nicole Fredricks, Old Dominion, So., B
Rina Tsioles, Old Dominion, Fr., M
Kaitlyn Cummins, Temple, Fr., M
Riley Taylor, Old Dominion, Jr., F
Meghan Mitchell, Villanova, Fr., F

* there are extra members on the all-conference teams due to a tie in voting
^ denotes unanimous selection

Temple University Athletics

Four Owls Earn Postseason Honors

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Players Mentioned

Cristina Carotenuto

Kaitlyn Cummins

Veronika Novakova

Nienke Oerlemans

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