Alex Walling Earns IWLCA National Player of the Week Accolades
NORTHBOROUGH, MASS. – The IWLCA has chosen eight student-athletes for the IWLCA Player of the Week awards for the week ending May 15, 2022. This weekly award recognizes the best offensive and defensive performances by players in Division I, II, and III, each week during the postseason.
Division I
Offensive Player of the Week
Livy Rosenzweig – Loyola University Maryland
Rosenzweig played a major role in No. 5 Loyola advancing to the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2015. She shared game-high honors in points for both games and led an offense that scored more goals on each of its opponents than any other team this season. She tallied her 11th hat-trick of the season against Mount St. Mary's and stretched her point streak to 75 straight games against No. 10 James Madison. She also added six assists and a career-high 13 draw controls against JMU. Rosenzweig's 13 draw controls breaks Loyola's all-time career mark, and she now stands as the second player in Patriot League history (20th in NCAA history) to win 400 draws throughout their career. Loyola will face No. 3 Boston College in the NCAA Division I Quarterfinals this Thursday.
Defensive Player of the Week
Arielle Weissman – University of Michigan
Weissman notched a career-high 17 saves in a 17-11 first-round victory over No. 16 Notre Dame. Weisman tallied a .607 save percentage on 39 shots faced against the Irish. She now ranks seventh in the nation for her goals-against average (9.01) and sixth in the nation for her save percentage (.505). She later recorded nine saves and one ground ball against No. 6 Northwestern.
Division II
Offensive Player of the Week
Emily Mitarotonda – East Stroudsburg University
Mitarotonda established a new program record for goals in a season after registering five goals in No. 3 East Stroudsburg's first-round win over Mercyhurst, 13-3. Sitting at 75 goals on the season, the sophomore followed with a dominating offensive performance in the Atlantic Region Championship, helping ESU take down rival No. 6 West Chester, 13-12, in an overtime thriller. Including the game-winner, Mitarotonda tallied seven goals to match her career and season-high, bumping her season total to 82. She scored six of ESU's second-half goals and added eight draw controls to her stat line. As the top seed of the NCAA DII National Championship semifinals, the Warriors will face fourth-seeded Queens on Friday.
Defensive Player of the Week
Alex Walling – University of Tampa
Walling recorded 14 saves in the first-round matchup against No. 1 Queens of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Walling's 14 saves against the number one scoring offense in the country gave her eight games this season with double-figure saves. The sophomore tallied 10 saves in the first half, which allowed Tampa to reach an 8-7 lead during the contest. Walling also added five ground balls in the matchup as well.
Division III
Offensive Player of the Week
Jordan Basso - Gettysburg College
Basso notched the game-winning overtime goal to lift No. 4 Gettysburg to a thrilling 9-8 victory over Roanoke in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship tournament. Basso's game-winning goal capped a comeback that saw the Bullets overcome a 7-3 second-half deficit. The sophomore finished the afternoon with three goals, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Gettysburg will face Denison in the NCAA Division III Round of 16 this Saturday.
Defensive Player of the Week
Lizzie Huesman – University of Chicago
Huesman helped the No. 20 Maroons keep the nation's top-scoring offense to six goals below their season average, defeating Capital 19-14 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The midfielder recorded nine draw controls, four caused turnovers, and two ground balls in the matchup. UChicago will take on Middlebury College in the Round of 16 on Saturday.
Contact: Tiffany Taylor; ttaylor@iwlca.org // 713-856-8006