North Carolina sophomore Erin Matson has been honored as the ACC Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week for the fifth time this season, while Virginia freshman Cato Geusgens was recognized as Defensive Player of the Week for the first time.
Matson had four goals and an assist as the Tar Heels beat two ranked teams in back-to-back road games over the weekend. In Saturday’s ACC match at No. 14 Syracuse, the Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, forward scored UNC’s second goal and had long passes to help set up the other two scores in a 3-1 UNC victory.
On Sunday at No. 21 Albany, she scored three goals and assisted on the other in a 4-1 decision. The victory was UNC’s 35th in a row, tying Maryland (2008-09) for the longest winning streak in ACC history.
Through 12 games, Matson has 20 goals (equal to her total from all last season) and 10 assists for 50 points. Matson’s 4.17 points per game scoring average leads the nation and is nearly a point per game higher than the next closest player.
Virginia’s Geusgens played a pivotal role in a weekend road trip that saw the No. 9 Cavaliers post a key ACC win at No. 5 Louisville and add a shutout victory at Miami (Ohio).
After helping Virginia limit Louisville to just one goal and four shots on goal in Friday’s 2-1 victory, Geusgens did it all for the Cavaliers in Sunday’s game at Miami. The Netherlands native led a backline defense that did not allow the Redhawks to take a single shot and did not yield a penalty corner. She also scored Virginia’s lone goal in the 1-0 victory on a hard strike off a penalty corner.
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Chris Graham
