Longwood University Athletics

OXFORD, Ohio – Following a breakout debut season in which she started every game in Longwood's backfield, freshman defender Luna Lopez was named Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year and joined senior Leonie Verstraete on the All-MAC first team to headline four Lancers who earned postseason awards from the conference.
 
Along with Lopez and Verstraete's All-MAC first-team citations, the MAC head coaches voted junior forward Olivia Wawrzyniak and redshirt junior goalkeeper Katie Wyman to the All-MAC second-team, giving the Lancers at least four all-conference selections for the third consecutive year and a combined 20 all-conference awards in five years as a member of the conference.
 
The all-conference honor was the third in a row for Verstraete, the second for Wyman and the first for both Lopez and Wawrzyniak, and come two days before the No. 3 seed Lancers open MAC Championship play in Thursday's quarterfinals against the winner of No. 6 seed Appalachian State and No. 7 seed Central Michigan in Oxford, Ohio.
 
Lopez becomes the first Lancer to earn one of the MAC's major awards, the first Lancer freshman to earn All-MAC first-team honors, and the first Lancer freshman to earn all-conference honors of any kind since Edel Nyland received an All-MAC second team award in 2014. A native of Mendoza, Argentina, she has anchored Longwood's backline all season, fronting fellow All-MAC pick Wyman to help Longwood surrender the second-fewest goals in the MAC.
 
Lopez earned those first-team honors alongside Verstraete, her senior teammate who enters this weekend's MAC Championship with the second-most goals and points in the conference. Verstraete trails only MAC Offensive Player of the Year Paula Portugal of Miami in both of those categories and spearheads a Longwood offense that averages 2.00 goals per game, the second-most in the MAC.
 
Verstraete has now earned three All-MAC awards during her career, including last season's first-team citation. A native of Utrecht, The Netherlands, she is in the midst of her third straight double-digit goal season, scoring 10 so far in 2018 to bring her career total to 38, tied for the sixth-most in program history and the third-most in Longwood's Division I era.
 
Wawrzyniak's first all-conference award came by way of a breakout junior season in which she emerged as Longwood's No. 2 scorer alongside Verstraete, scoring a career-high eight goals, including three game-winners. After drawing just five starts in her first two seasons, the Hilliard, Ohio, product started every game as a junior and gave Longwood a pair of golden goals, including 2-1 overtime victories against La Salle and Appalachian State.
 
Wyman made her second appearance on the All-MAC second team thanks to a redshirt junior season that saw her lead the MAC with a .736 save percentage and rank among the leagues' top three with a 1.80 goals against average, 5.40 saves per game and two shutouts. She played every minute in goal for Longwood this season and held opponents to two or fewer goals in 10 of her 15 games, including shutouts against UC Davis and Central Michigan.
 
Those four All-MAC picks will guide Longwood into their third straight MAC Championship appearance Thursday after the Lancers earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament with a 9-6 overall record and a 4-2 mark in MAC play. The tournament opens with Wednesday's play-in game between Appalachian State and Central Michigan and continues Thursday when Longwood faces the winner of those two teams. A win there would propel Longwood to the semifinals against No. 2 seed Kent State Friday with a trip to Saturday's championship game on the line.
 
2018 MAC Field Hockey Awards
 
Coach of the Year: Inako Puzo (Miami)
Defensive Player of the Year: Mariona Heras (Miami)
Offensive Player of the Year: Paula Portugal (Miami)
►Freshman of the Year: Luna Lopez (Longwood)
 
1st Team All-MAC
Veerle Van Heertum (Appalachian State)
Anya Eicher (Ball State)
Mary Crumlish (Kent State)
Clara Rodriguez Seto (Kent State)
Berta Jover Llorens (Kent State)
►Luna Lopez (Longwood)
►Leonie Verstraete (Longwood)
Paula Portugal (Miami)
Leo Berlie (Miami)
Mariona Heras (Miami)
Emma Eggleston (Ohio)
 
2nd Team All-MAC
Emma Bressler (Kent State)
Noor Breedijk (Miami)
Helena Cambra Soler (Kent State)
Jillian Shive (Ohio)
Leah Warren (Ohio)
Rachel Pereira (Ball State)
Annette Jarosz (Appalachian State)
►Olivia Wawrzyniak (Longwood)
Estel Roig (Miami)
Audrey Tabor (Ball State)
Maddie Passarella (Miami)
►Katie Wyman (Longwood)
 
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