2022-23 Field Hockey Players of the Week

  • Betty Boatwright, Washington and Lee, Fy., Midfielder
    October 31, 2022
    Boatwright, a first-year from Washington, D.C., helped the nationally 18th-ranked Generals finish the season with a pair of ODAC victories to lock up the top seed in the upcoming ODAC Tournament. Boatwright was on the mark twice in Washington and Lee's 5-2 comeback victory over 14th-ranked Shenandoah University. She knotted the game at 2-2 just 1:14 before the end of the first half after collecting a rebounded shot and sending a backhanded effort through a crowd and into the cage. Boatwright then put the Generals ahead, 3-2, 5:58 into the third period. Freddie Tobeason sent a shot from just inside the top of the circle towards Boatwright just in front of the keeper. She redirected the effort into the cage for the eventual game-winner. The win over SU and three-goal margin of victory proved the difference in securing the top seed in the ODAC Tournament after the application of league tiebreakers. Boatwright was again on the scoresheet twice in W&L's regular season-capping 3-0 win at Bridgewater. She assisted Peyton Tysinger on the second goal of the with 5:02 left in the second quarter. She then notched the third goal of the game 5:08 into the third quarter. For the season, Boatwright has collected 24 points on 10 goals and four assists. She has scored three goals that would be considered game-winning efforts.
  • Kessa Romero, Lynchburg, Sr., Midfielder
    October 24, 2022
    Romero, a senior from Gloucester, Va., helped lead nationally 20th-ranked Lynchburg to a pair of victories last week including one ODAC win. Romero put together a seven point week starting with a goal in a 5-0 victory on the road at Virginia Wesleyan. She scored the game's second goal with 11 minutes gone off an assist from Emily Yanes. Romero then had a hand in all three goals of the Hornets second road win of the week, a 3-1 result at Mary Washington. She knotted the game 1-all 6:26 into the second half by depositing home a rebounded effort. She then assisted Marlou Wendriks on the go-ahead goal a little over two minutes. Romero sealed the victory 10:40 from time with a second unassisted effort. For the season, Romero has posted 16 points on five goals and an ODAC ninth-best six assists.
  • Saige Bullock, Roanoke, Jr., Forward/Midfielder
    October 17, 2022
    Bullock, a junior from Millsboro, Del., put together an eight-point week in helping Roanoke to a pair of ODAC victories to improve to 11-3 overall and 5-0 atop the conference table. Bullock found the scoresheet twice in both Maroons wins. In a 6-1 win at Bridgewater, she made it 2-1 Roanoke at the 22:47 mark in the second quarter, putting RC ahead for good. She later made good on Lindsey Keyes pass for a 4-1 lead at 36:43 of the third frame. Bullock again was the difference-maker in a 3-1 victory over Randolph-Macon. Score two unassisted efforts to put RC ahead 2-0 at 33:39 and 3-0 at 40:33. For the season, Bullock has registered 21 points on 10 goals and one assist.
  • Grace Vernarelli, Roanoke, So., Forward
    October 10, 2022
    Vernarelli, a sophomore from Baldwin, Md., helped Roanoke to a trio of ODAC victories in a busy week that also included a fourth contest at Christopher Newport University (L, 2-0) in a non-conference showdown. Vernarelli scored five goals and dished out one assist for 11 points against the Maroons' ODAC counterparts, their first three games against league foes to stand atop the conference table at 3-0 with nationally 17th-ranked Shenandoah University. Vernarelli opened with the game's first goal in a 2-1 win over Eastern Mennonite. She collected a ball in the center of the circle and swiped it past EMU's keeper into the right side of the cage 1:13 into the third quarter. Vernarelli then registered her first career hat trick and second multi-goal game in a 6-0 win over Ferrum. She tallied the first three goals of game, beating the keeper in the at the 1:23, 2:12, and 5:07 marks of the first period. Her second goal came after some great passing off a penalty-corner with the final touch from Hope Keller. Roanoke then went on the road for back-to-back contests on the eastern side of the Commonwealth and registered a 6-0 win at Virginia Wesleyan. That victory marked the Maroons ninth straight triumph, setting a new program record. Vernarelli assisted Saige Bullock on the second goal of the game at the 14:08 mark and then made it 4-0 Maroons 5:25 into the second quarter. For the season, Vernarelli is third in the ODAC in points (25) and goals scored (10). She has registered at least one point in 8-of-10 games played.
  • Kelsey Jones, Shenandoah, Sr., Midfielder
    October 03, 2022
    Jones, a senior from Fredericksburg, Va., put together a four goal week in helping Shenandoah to a pair of victories including a 10-0 triumph in the Hornets ODAC opener at Virginia Wesleyan. Shenandoah, which received votes towards the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division III National Coaches Poll last week, is now 10-0 atop the ODAC table. Jones got her week started with two tallies in a 4-1 victory over St. Mary's College (Md.). Shenandoah led 2-1 after one period, but the scoreboard sat dormant until Jones rattled the cage twice in the fourth frame. She scored off a penalty corner entry by Madison Short with a long-range blast from the top of the circle just 52-seconds into the quarter. Jones did it again less than five minutes later, but this time had to elude two defenders after receiving the corner feed before sending a long shot past the stick-arm of the Seahawks' keeper. At Virginia Wesleyan, Jones scored Shenandoah's second and fifth goals. She tallied the first goals 2:06 into the contest with a mid-circle shot that squeezed past the Marlins' keeper at the right post. Jones made good on another penalty corner three minutes into the second quarter. This time, she received the entry at the near side and sent a long high-flick over the keeper's head and into the far side of the cage. For the season, Jones is second in the ODAC in points (26) and goals (10) and is tied for third in assists (6).
  • Mairead McKibbin, Shenandoah, So., Forward
    September 26, 2022
    McKibbin, a sophomore from Magnolia, Del., picks up her third ODAC weekly honor in four weeks as she continues to post big offensive numbers to help keep Shenandoah unbeaten at 8-0 atop the conference table. McKibbin, who has registered at least one point in all eight Hornets' games this season, put up a 13-point week in three SU victories. She opened with two goals and an assist in a 6-0 victory over 2021 CSAC champion Wilson College. She opened Shenandoah's account in the eighth minute and made it 3-0 SU in the 36th minute. She assisted Lauren Tyre with Elizabeth Ranberger on the Hornets fifth goal in the 48:00 mark. McKibbin then recorded her third game of at least three goals this season in a 7-0 win over Stevenson University. She assisted Cassidy Morrison on SU's third goal in the 13th minute and then score three consecutive goals -- two in the second quarter and one in the third -- to make it 6-0 Hornets by the 36:47 mark. McKibbin then helped Shenandoah survive a scare at Washington College. In a back-and-forth affair, she assisted Morrison on SU's second tying-goal, making it 2-2 with 28:26 gone. Shenandoah eventually got a 57th minute goal from Morrison to win, 5-4. For the season, McKibbin leads not only the ODAC but NCAA Division III in points (35) and goals scored (16).
  • Kayla Brady, Lynchburg, Jr., Goalkeeper
    September 19, 2022
    Brady, a junior from Millsboro, Del., played a major role in Lynchburg's 3-0 week that featured a 2-0 upset of nationally third-ranked Johns Hopkins. Brady spent all 180 minutes guarding the Hornets cage, registering 21 total saves and a .913 save percentage. She opened with three saves in a 2-1 victory at Stevenson University during the midweek. She was spectacular in Lynchburg's 2-0 victory over JHU on Saturday. Brady stopped a career-high 16 shots in the unexpected shutout, eight in each half. But she was particularly busy in the first quarter, making six saves as the Blue Jays peppered 10 shots in the early going. Brady closed her week on Sunday with two more saves in a 2-1 victory over Dickinson College. For the season, Brady has spent an ODAC-high 428:46 minding her cage. She is second in the ODAC in saves (44) and save percentage (.830).
  • Mairead McKibbin, Shenandoah, So., Forward/Midfielder
    September 12, 2022
    McKibbin, a sophomore from Magnolia, Del., continued her torrid start to the season with five more goals to help Shenandoah to a pair of non-conference victories on a road trip to Ohio. McKibbin scored twice in the Hornets 7-0 shutout at Kenyon College. She scored an unassisted effort in the 20th minute and then finished off a dish from Claudia Lenahan in the 50th minute. McKibbin then helped Shenandoah improve to 4-0 on the season with her third straight multi-goal game in a 6-1 win at the College of Wooster. She poked in a rebound for the game's first goal in the 17th minute. She then scored either side of halftime with a 28th minute tally off an assist from Farren Winter and an unassisted effort in the 34th minute. For the season, McKibbin leads the ODAC in points (20) and goals scored (10).
  • Mairead McKibbin, Shenandoah, So., Forward/Midfielder
    September 06, 2022
    McKibbin, a sophomore from Magnolia, Del., rattled the back of the cage for five goals as the 2021 ODAC Rookie of the Year helped Shenandoah begin the season with a pair of non-conference wins. McKibbin opened her 2022 account with the game's second goal in the 22nd minute as part of a 4-1 home victory over Gettysburg College. Her goal was an unassisted effort. McKibbin then registered her fifth career multi-goal game with a career-high four goals in a 10-1 road win at Washington & Jefferson College. She changed the scoreboard with tallies in the 19th, 33rd, 36th, and 47th minutes. Her final goal was assisted by Cassidy Morrison.