For the fourth time in the 21-year history of the State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey program, the Hawks have landed five players on the annual All-SUNYAC Field Hockey squad.

Jessica Ascencao headlines the selections for the Hawks, as the senior earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, becoming just the second player in program history to don the title and first since Jessica Caruana in 2015. Along with Ascencao, sophomore Hannah Ackerman was named to First-Team All-SUNYAC with juniors Natasia Plunkett, Julia Cummings and senior Kayla Ahern earning a spot on All-SUNYAC Second Team and the SUNY New Paltz coaching staff, led by 12-year tenured coach Shanna Szablinski was honored as the SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year.

To view the full All-SUNYAC team and read the official conference press release, click here.

To continue reading about each of the Hawks' All-SUNYAC honorees, see below:

First Team/ Defensive Player of the Year: Jessica Ascencao (senior, midfield/back)

(Mohegan Lake, NY/ Lakeland HS)

A Rookie of the Year selection as a freshman in 2018, leading her team to a SUNYAC title, four years later her career nearly comes full circle as Ascencao once again was the catalyst in another conference championship run en route to being named as the SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Year, along with tallying her third First-Team All-SUNYAC selection.

"Jessie has played a tremendous role on our team," Szablinski said. "Defensively she anticipates the play well and knows how to disrupt the attack. Her timing with her tackles is excellent and she stays composed while transitioning effectively from defense to attack. She is in control under pressure, deceptive with her movement and is a presence on the field."

This season, in leading the Hawks to a 16-2 overall record, an undefeated SUNYAC record of 6-0 and a 19th spot in the latest NFHCA Division III national rankings, Ascencao scored four goals, had a team-and conference-high 13 assists and most importantly made eight defensive saves to lead her team defensively.

"Defensively, she stays composed and is the voice who consistently is organizing our defense during transition," Szablinski said. "On our defensive corners she is our trail, and she helped our defense deny many opportunities this year with only giving up 20 goals throughout the season and tallying four defensive saves. Jessie is a pivotal player on our attack and continues to help generate many opportunities in our attacking end. She leads the conference in assists and continues to make the players around her better. She is definitely worthy of the SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Year and has continued to play at a high level the entire season."

Ascencao has been an integral part of two SUNYAC championship teams, in 2018 and 2021, with a runner-up finish in 2019. For her play in all three tournaments, she was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team each year. She has also been recognized regionally, named as a two-time NFHCA All-North Atlantic Region First-Team member for 2018 and 2019.

With her totals from this season thus far, Ascencao ranks eighth all-time in career goals with 26, third all-time in career assists with 23, and sixth all-time in career points with 75 all in just three seasons played. Her career assist mark is just seven shy of matching the all-time mark set by Caruana who finished her Hawks tenure with 30 assists.

No slouch in the classroom either, Ascencao is a three-time selection to the SUNYAC Commissioner's Academic Honor List.

First Team: Hannah Ackerman (sophomore, forward)

(Nesconset, NY/Smithtown East HS)

Ackerman began her collegiate career a year later than expected, but nonetheless showed why she was one of the outstanding recruits for coach Shanna Szabinksi in 2020.

Named First-Team All-SUNYAC in her first year of competition, Ackerman started all 18 games of the season thus far. Her 11 goals on the year, ties her for first on the team with teammate Morgan Woolley, while her five assists are third most on the team, giving her a team-leading 29 points on the season, which ranks sixth-most in the SUNYAC.

"Hannah has played an integral role on our attacking line," Szablinski said. "She is very effective at drawing corners and creating positive outcomes inside our circle. She continues to challenge the top defends in our region and has consistently been able to create overload situations. Her ability to receive and take space has allowed her to generate attack in our critical scoring areas. Hannah is present when re-defending and this has helped us win back balls in our attacking end all season long. She's a great player who is having a phenomenal year."

Ackerman tallied four game-winners during the regular season, and her fifth game winning goal was the most important one of the season thus far — in the SUNYAC Championship game against No. 15 SUNY Cortland. Her lone score, which came late in the first quarter, propelled SUNY New Paltz to its sixth SUNYAC title and their sixth appearance in the NCAA Division III field Hockey Tournament. For her play in the tournament, she was named the SUNYAC Tournament MVP.

Second Team: Kayla Ahern (senior, back)

(Blue Point, NY/Bayport-Blue Point HS)

Ahern is completing her senior season just as she opened her New Paltz career in 2018, winning a SUNYAC Championship and earning a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. One of the rocks of a stingy SUNY New Paltz defense, Ahern made three defensive saves in 2021 while limiting the opposition to a meager 9.8 shots per game, just 11 overall goals given up for a 1.09 goals-against-average.

"Kayla is our center back who is consistently coming up with huge plays," Szablinski said. "Time and time again, Kayla prevents multiple fast breaks occurring from our opponents. While there are no stats to prove just how effective she is, it speaks to our defense only allowing 20 goals thus far."

In earning her Second Team All SUNYAC honor, Ahern has started all 56 games in her career and is a three-time SUNYAC Commissioner's Academic Honor List selection. Her five defensive saves this season ranks second, just behind Defensive Player of the Year Ascencao, with two of her five defensive stops coming in two huge close victories against Vassar College and SUNY Geneseo.

"Kayla has effective communication, impeccable timing on her tackles and is composed under pressure, which allows her to make good decisions from defense to attack," Szablinski said. "She has played every game since her freshman year has played post on our defensive corners. This year she had two defensive saves, which could have closed the gap in two critical games."

Second Team: Julia Cummings (junior, back)

(Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland HS)

Cummings has started in all 36 games in her two-year SUNY New Paltz career. Named Second Team All-SUNYAC for 2021, Cummings, playing defensive right back, not only helped to limit conference opponents to a paltry 6.5 shots per game and four goals in six regular season and two tournament games, but also contributed to the potent Hawks offense with six goals, three of them game winners and seven assists with her prowess on offensive corners.

"Julia has been a contributing factor to our defense as well as attack," Szablinski said. "She has done a tremendous job shutting down key players in our defensive end. She anticipates the play well, which eliminates opportunities for the attack and gain numbers up in our defensive end. This year she stepped up big adding to our attack and has been key in our fast-paced transitions."

Along with her offensive statistcs, Cummings solidified a stingy back line for SUNY New Paltz, as the junior posted two defensive saves this season.


Second Team: Natasia Plunkett (junior, forward)

(Holland Patent, NY/ Holland Patent HS)

Plunkett didn't let the off year affect her game and became an even better player following a break-out freshmen season in 2019 where she was an All-SUNYAC selection and NFHCA North Atlantic Region Second Team pick.

Plunkett was third on the Hawks score sheet this season with three assists and nine goals, two of them game winners. Starting all 18 games thus far for the 2021 season, Plunkett earned All-Tournament honors in the 2021 SUNYAC Championship Tournament. For her outstanding play in the conference this season, Plunkett was named to All-SUNYAC Second Team.

"Natasia has been a force on our forward line," Szablinski said. "She is dynamic and has been a key to drawing corners inside our attacking end. She has a knack for creating corners, overload situations and re-defend with vengeance allowing us to win balls in our attacking 50."

Coaching Staff of the Year: Head Coach Shanna Szablinski, assistant coaches Sara Knickerbocker, Sarah Swift and Rachel Beam

The Hawks coaching staff has helped the program to one of their best seasons in program history and can officially make the case for best season ever with a stout performance in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

SUNY New Paltz already tied a program-most with 16 wins thus far, which included the team's sixth SUNYAC title and second in three seasons. They defeated SUNY Cortland, a program nationally ranked and undefeated against everyone except for the Hawks all season, twice for the first time ever — once in the regular season and again in the conference championship game. The program went 6-0 in conference play for the first time ever and already will have the fewest losses in a single season in program history. All the while, guiding the program to its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the hopes of attaining a coveted NCAA DIII National title.


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