Seniors Briana Allen and Jena Vanskiver earned the United East Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week honors, respectively, marking the third consecutive week St. Mary’s College of Maryland field hockey players have claimed both awards. The league announced the selections October 27.
Allen, a forward from Bowie, Maryland, secured her first career offensive player of the week recognition. Vanskiver, a defender from Fallston, Maryland, picked up her fourth such defensive honor this season. The sweep underscores the Seahawks’ balanced attack and defensive resilience as they enter the conference tournament with an undefeated league mark.
St. Mary’s wrapped the regular season at 11-5 overall and 4-0 in conference play, splitting its final two outings. The team fell 7-1 at top-ranked Christopher Newport University on October 22 before posting a 5-0 shutout victory over Wilson College on October 25 during senior day festivities at Jamie L. Roberts Stadium. Against Wilson, Allen notched her first career hat trick with three goals, adding an assist for a career-high seven points. Her performance helped the Seahawks outshoot the Phoenix 28-4 while limiting them to two shots on goal.
Vanskiver opened the week with St. Mary’s lone goal at Christopher Newport, where she also recorded two defensive saves in a matchup against the nation’s No. 1 team. She anchored the back line in the Wilson win, contributing to the program’s ninth shutout of 2025 by restricting the visitors to four shots and two penalty corners. Defensive saves, a statistic tracking blocks on shots aimed at the goal, highlight Vanskiver’s role in thwarting threats, a key element in field hockey’s fast-paced, 70-minute format divided into two 35-minute halves.
In conference rankings, Allen stands fourth with six assists, 46 shots and 29 shots on goal. She ties for fifth with eight goals and ranks sixth with 22 points. Vanskiver leads the United East with seven defensive saves, places fifth with 33 shots, ties for ninth with four goals and shares 10th in shots on goal with 15. Both players’ contributions reflect the triple-threat nature of field hockey positions, where forwards like Allen drive offense through dribbling and penalty corner insertions, while defenders like Vanskiver cover expansive turf, often exceeding 5,000 square yards per game, to intercept passes and clear balls.
The awards cap a season of milestones for St. Mary’s, which clinched the top seed in the United East Field Hockey Championship. The tournament features the top four regular-season finishers in a single-elimination bracket. Semifinals occur at the higher seeds’ home sites, with the championship game hosted by the top seed on November 8. St. Mary’s drew No. 4 Lancaster Bible College (3-12 overall, 1-3 conference) for the semifinals on November 1 at approximately 1 p.m. at Roberts Stadium. A win advances the Seahawks to the final against the survivor of No. 2 Penn State Harrisburg and No. 3 Wilson. The conference champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, where 24 teams compete in a bracket culminating in the national semifinals and final on November 22-23 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
As top seed, St. Mary’s enters the tournament with momentum from its perfect conference slate, outscoring league foes 24-3. Lancaster Bible, despite its record, showed upset potential with a 2-1 win over Wilson earlier this month. The semifinal tests St. Mary’s depth, with 22 players on the roster averaging 19 years old, many hailing from Maryland’s mid-Atlantic corridor. Success could propel the Seahawks toward an NCAA at-large bid, even without the automatic qualifier, based on strength of schedule and regional rankings.
