Penas, Conaboy and O'Brien Earn MAAC Field Hockey Weekly Honors
MAAC Sports
MAAC Offensive Player of the Week
Sandra Penas, Rider University
Senior, Forward, 5’6’’, Barcelona, Spain
Penas led Rider to a 2-0 week, with wins over Towson (4-0) and against Appalachian State (6-2) by scoring five goals and adding an assist for an 11-point week. In the process, Penas tied Rider grad Virginia Egusquiza ’11 at the top on the Bronc all-time scoring list with 150 points.
Against Towson in the home opener Friday night, Penas got Rider (6-1) on the board with a left side blast just 2:02 into the game, and she capped off the scoring against the Tigers on a corner play with just over 12 minutes remaining for the final score.
In a game hosted by James Madison against Appalachian State on Sunday, Penas scored a hat trick and added an assist for a seven-point day. Penas again opened the scoring, hitting the back of the cage in the 13th minute and her assist in the 19th minute gave Rider a three-goal lead. Penas then deflected a shot just three minutes later to put the Broncs ahead 4-0 and she finished off the first half hat trick in the 28th minute to put Rider ahead 5-1 at intermission.
Penas, the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year, now has 50 goals and 30 assists in 67 career games, including six goals and five assists this season.
MAAC Defensive Player of the Week
Megan Conaboy, Quinnipiac University
Sophomore, Goalkeeper, Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights HS
Conaboy was a force in goal for the Bobcats this week, posting a 3-0 record with a 0.43 GAA, with two shutouts, after allowing one goal over 210 minutes in goal while stopping 12 of 13 shots on goal for a .923 save percentage.
Conaboy allowed a first half goal against UMass Lowell before stopping three shots down the stretch to preserve the Bobcat win. She then went on to post back-to-back shutouts against Vermont (three saves in a 4-0 win) and Saint Joseph’s (five saves in a 5-0 win). She also denied Saint Joseph’s on a penalty stroke midway through the first half as Quinnipiac held a 1-0 lead.
With her showing against Vermont and Saint Joseph’s, she became the first Quinnipiac goalkeeper to post consecutive shutouts since Jenna Grossman in 2006. In addition, she has not allowed a goal in her last 186:14 in the cage, the longest streak since Grossman’s 176:38 from Oct. 20-25, 2006. For the year, Conaboy is 4-4 with a 3.38 GAA and a .750 save percentage.
MAAC Rookie of the Week
Kalyn O’Brien, Rider
Freshman, Forward, 5-2, Southampton, N.J./Seneca
The MAAC Rookie of the Week for the opening week of the season, O’Brien clinched her second conference award with a five-point week as Rider went 2-0.
Against Towson in the 2013 home opener, O’Brien scored twice as she led the Broncs with 10 shots. Her first goal with exactly 11 minutes before half time gave Rider the all-important two goal cushion and her second tally of the evening, in the 55th minute broke the game open. Against Appalachian State, O’Brien assisted on Rider’s opening goal in the 13th minute as the Broncs won 6-2 against the Mountaineers.
For the season, O’Brien has four goals and an assist, making all seven starts.