2020-21 TUFH Awards: Defensive Players of the Year
5/18/2021
2020-21 Defensive Player of the Year goes to both Cristina Carotenuto and Nienke Oerlemans!
An Allentown, Pa. native, senior Cristina Carotenuto came up big for the Owls all season in the cage. Her season GAA of 1.55 ranks eighth in program history for single-season GAA and was fourth in the BIG EAST. She recorded 64 saves on 185 shots faced for a .688 save percentage and helped lead the Owls to five shutouts in 2021. Carotenuto was one of four Owls to earn postseason honors, earning a spot on the All-Conference Second Team.
An Apeldoorn, Netherlands native, junior Nienke Oerlemans posted a team-leading four goals including two against Liberty on April 3. She fired seven shots with six on target, and recorded the team's lone defensive save. Oerlemans shared penalty corner inserting duties with graduate student Veronika Novakova, and was the backbone of Temple's backline. She was one of four Owls to earn postseason honors, earning a spot on the All-Conference Second Team.
Defensive Player of the Year was awarded to both Cristina and Nienke for their massive efforts inside our defensive circle. Nienke is composed on the ball both offensively and defensively. We are fortunate to have her for two more seasons. Cristina made it extremely difficult for even the top attacking teams in the nation to score and was an absolute stand out in cage for us.-- head coach Susan Ciufo
