St. Mary’s College of Maryland swept the United East Conference’s weekly field hockey awards Monday. Sophomore forward Josie Mascolo was named Offensive Player of the Week, and junior goalkeeper Sophia Kent was named Defensive Player of the Week, according to the league office.
The award is the first conference weekly honor for Mascolo, a Leonardtown native and St. Mary’s Ryken graduate. Kent, of Chesterville, Md., and a Gunston School graduate, won her second straight and seventh overall.
Four weeks into the season, Seahawks have claimed five of the eight weekly field hockey awards the United East has handed out.
A split against Washington College and No. 2 Salisbury
St. Mary’s (3-4) split its two games last week. The Seahawks won 1-0 at Washington College on Sept. 23, then took No. 2 Salisbury to overtime for the first time in the 32-year history of the series on Sept. 26 before falling 1-0.
Mascolo scored the only goal in Chestertown, and it was the first game-winner of her career. She blasted a shot just inside the near post with 7.2 seconds left in the second quarter. The 5-foot-5 forward ranks fifth in the United East with 21 shots and is tied for sixth with 10 shots on goal. Earlier this month, she led the Seahawks in shots in a 2-1 win over Randolph-Macon.
Kent made a season-high 11 saves to preserve the shutout at Washington College. She added five more stops against Salisbury, which went scoreless through 60 minutes of regulation before converting a penalty stroke 3 minutes, 13 seconds into overtime. Kent allowed just that one goal in more than 130 minutes of play last week.
The 5-foot-5 junior leads the conference with a 0.75 goals-against average and an .871 save percentage, and she is tied for first with two shutouts.
A season of Seahawk honors
Mascolo is the second St. Mary’s player to win the offensive award this season. Sophomore midfielder Julie Presgraves won it on Sept. 21 after scoring her second game-winner of the year against Randolph-Macon.
On the defensive side, St. Mary’s goalkeepers have won three straight weeks. Senior Caroline McDonald won the award on Sept. 14 after a career-best 16 saves at York. Kent followed with back-to-back selections.
St. Mary’s entered the season as the defending United East champion. Last year the Seahawks swept the league’s regular-season and tournament titles before reaching the NCAA Division III tournament.
2026 United East Field Hockey Offensive Players of the Week
- Sept. 7 – Kate Seymour, Wilson, Sr., F
- Sept. 14 – Astrid Comp, Penn State Harrisburg, Jr., M/F
- Sept. 21 – Julie Presgraves, St. Mary’s College, So., M
- Sept. 28 – Josie Mascolo, St. Mary’s College, So., F
2026 United East Field Hockey Defensive Players of the Week
- Sept. 7 – Macenzie Mulholland, Penn State Harrisburg, Sr., G
- Sept. 14 – Caroline McDonald, St. Mary’s College, Sr., G
- Sept. 21 – Sophia Kent, St. Mary’s College, Jr., G
- Sept. 28 – Sophia Kent, St. Mary’s College, Jr., G
Up next: unbeaten Stevenson
The Seahawks face another national power Wednesday, Sept. 30, when they visit No. 6 Stevenson University for a 5 p.m. nonconference game on the Mustangs’ East Campus in Owings Mills. Stevenson is 8-0 and moved up to No. 6 in this week’s NFHCA Division III coaches poll. Last week it upset then-No. 2 Salisbury 4-1, three days before the Sea Gulls needed overtime to beat St. Mary’s. The game will be streamed on Stevenson’s athletics website.
St. Mary’s opens United East play Saturday, Oct. 3, at Gwynedd Mercy.
