Rother Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
10/11/2016 1:00:00 PM | Field Hockey
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday that Indiana's Noëlle Rother is the conference's Defensive Player of the Week. The sophomore goalkeeper earns the fifth Big Ten weekly honor of her career, the first for Indiana this season.
"Noëlle is really improving, and her leadership in the backfield is impressive to see," said head coach Amanda Janney after Rother's weekend. "She's doing a great job of communicating with the defense, and she does everything in her power to dive and make those big saves. She's a fun player to watch."
Rother put together one of her best weekends of the season in the Hoosiers' pair of games at home against top-15 teams. In Indiana's game versus No. 6 Northwestern, Rother tallied 10 saves and, along with the corner defense, thwarted all eight of the Wildcats' penalty corners. Rother followed that with a seven-save outing against No. 14 Boston College, and again stopped the Eagles on their 12 penalty corner tries.
Much of Indiana's success in their upset win over Northwestern was due to Rother's stinginess down the stretch. On one particular play, Rother parried a one-on-one chance from the Wildcats on the perimeter of the circle, ran towards the base line, and lunged to knock away the follow-up attempt.
"She doesn't get the praise she deserves," said junior center back Elle Hempt. "She makes some amazing saves, and her communication is phenomenal. She's the backbone of our entire defense."
The award is Rother's first of the season, and she adds it to last season's Defensive Player of the Week honor and three Freshman of the Week awards. Rother is the first Hoosier to be named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week since Sydney Supica won the honor in the final week of last year's regular season.
The Hoosiers (7-7, 2-2) hit the road for two Big Ten games this coming weekend. They face No. 12 Michigan on Friday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m. under the lights at Ocker Field. On Sunday, October 16, Indiana will head to East Lansing for a showdown with the Michigan State Spartans at 1:00 p.m.
"Noëlle is really improving, and her leadership in the backfield is impressive to see," said head coach Amanda Janney after Rother's weekend. "She's doing a great job of communicating with the defense, and she does everything in her power to dive and make those big saves. She's a fun player to watch."
Rother put together one of her best weekends of the season in the Hoosiers' pair of games at home against top-15 teams. In Indiana's game versus No. 6 Northwestern, Rother tallied 10 saves and, along with the corner defense, thwarted all eight of the Wildcats' penalty corners. Rother followed that with a seven-save outing against No. 14 Boston College, and again stopped the Eagles on their 12 penalty corner tries.
Much of Indiana's success in their upset win over Northwestern was due to Rother's stinginess down the stretch. On one particular play, Rother parried a one-on-one chance from the Wildcats on the perimeter of the circle, ran towards the base line, and lunged to knock away the follow-up attempt.
"She doesn't get the praise she deserves," said junior center back Elle Hempt. "She makes some amazing saves, and her communication is phenomenal. She's the backbone of our entire defense."
The award is Rother's first of the season, and she adds it to last season's Defensive Player of the Week honor and three Freshman of the Week awards. Rother is the first Hoosier to be named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week since Sydney Supica won the honor in the final week of last year's regular season.
The Hoosiers (7-7, 2-2) hit the road for two Big Ten games this coming weekend. They face No. 12 Michigan on Friday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m. under the lights at Ocker Field. On Sunday, October 16, Indiana will head to East Lansing for a showdown with the Michigan State Spartans at 1:00 p.m.
Players Mentioned
Defender
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