COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After backstopping the Union College field hockey team to its first Liberty League Championship last week, junior Tess Parker was named the NFHCA Division III National Defensive Player of the Week, the National Field Hockey Coaches Association announced on Wednesday morning.
Parker made 13 saves in two games to help Union win the Liberty League title and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The junior made seven stops, including one in the first overtime period, as Union came back to defeat third-seeded Vassar College by a 4-3 (2OT) score to reach the championship game on Friday. She then added three saves in both the second and fourth quarters as the Garnet Chargers knocked off top-seeded #20 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Sunday, 4-2, to win the conference championship.
Parker has started 13 of her 14 appearances in goal for Union this season, including all six games during the team's current six-game winning streak. She leads the squad with a 2.30 goals against average and .699 save percentage to go with an 8-4 record this season. In 32 career appearances in goal, she is 13-6 with a 2.04 goals against average and .726 save percentage.
Parker will lead the Garnet Chargers into their first NCAA Tournament appearance today at 3 p.m. against #16 Babson College.