#BIGEASTfh Championship Teams Highlight Weekly Awards
NEW YORK -- Connecticut’s Svea Boker earns her third BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honor on Monday. Providence’s Lydia Rice was named Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this season and Old Dominion’s Nicole Fredricks was named Freshman of the Week for the fourth time in 2019. Connecticut, Old Dominion and Providence, along with Liberty, are the four teams who will make up the 2019 BIG EAST Championship field.
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week
Svea Boker, Connecticut, Sr., F (Bremen, Germany)
Connecticut senior forward Svea Boker set career highs for assists and points in a game as she posted four assists with two goals for eight points in the Huskies, 6-3 victory over No. 17 Liberty on Saturday. The win gave Connecticut at least a share of the 2019 BIG EAST regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming championship. Boker’s first goal tied the game at 2-2 in the 29th minute. She also scored the fifth goal in the 54th. Boker leads the league in points with 41 (15G, 11A).
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week
Lydia Rice, Providence, Grad., GK (Carle Place, N.Y.)
Providence goalie Lydia Rice recorded two shutout victories last week, including a 2-0 victory over Georgetown on Friday which solidified the Friars’ place in the upcoming 2019 BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep. On Friday’s game against the Hoyas, Rice posted five saves. On Oct. 27, Rice made three saves against Rider in a 1-0 win. She anchored a defense that held the Broncs scoreless for just three third time this season, while keeping two players ranked in the top-10 among NCAA Division I players in points per game out of the cage. Rice is second in the league in goals against average (1.22).
BIG EAST Freshman of the Week
Nicole Fredricks, Old Dominion, Fr., B (West Chester, Pa.)
Old Dominion freshman back Nicole Fredricks helped lead an Old Dominion defense that shutout BIG EAST foe Quinnipiac and held the No. 1 team in the country, North Carolina, to just one goal. The Tar Heels are the second-highest scoring offense in Division I. In the game against the Bobcats, the Monarch defense held it opponent to just two shots and zero penalty corners. Against the Tar Heels, Fredricks played on the defensive corner unit that did not allow a goal on eight UNC corners, holding UNC which averaged 4.36 goals per game, to just one score. She also collected her first career defensive save in the effort.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Antonia Tiedtke, Connecticut, Sr., B
Tiedtke notched a goal and two assists in the Huskies’ 6-3 win over Liberty on Saturday.
Rebecca Birch, Old Dominion, Sr., B
Birch led a ODU defense that shutout BIG EAST foe Quinnipiac and held the UNC offense to just one goal. Offensively, Birch tallied two assists in the 4-0 conference victory. In ODU's game against North Carolina, Birch was also on the team's defensive corner unit that did not allow a goal on eight UNC corners.
Cristina Carotenuto, Temple, Jr., GK
Carotenuto allowed just one goal in two games for the Owls, recording 16 saves for a .941 save percentage. She set a career-high in saves against No. 18 Rutgers with 13. She earned a shutout in a 3-0 win over Villanova.