Winkin, Blaha Honored with Weekly GNAC Awards
WINTHROP, Mass. – After leading the Regis College field hockey team into and through the first round of the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament, junior Hope Winkin (Winslow, Maine) and freshman Sheridan Blaha (Waltham, Mass.) have been named, respectively, the GNAC Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Week, announced Monday afternoon by the league office.
Winkin kept Regis in front in both matches of a 2-0 week, helping Regis qualify for the GNAC Tournament before earning a first-round road win. Against JWU in the regular-season finale, she made five of her seven saves within the final three minutes of the second period to keep the Wildcats off the board in the first half. She stopped seven of nine shots overall for the 4-2 road win.
Saturday, she tied the Regis single-season record with her sixth shutout of the season, making two saves as Regis defeated Anna Maria, 1-0, to advance to the league semifinals. The junior captain has cut her goals against average in half this season as she has played every second of every match in net for the Pride. For the week, she stopped nine of 11 shots for a .818 save percentage.
Blaha continues to expand upon her school single-season records as the Pride extended their winning streak to five matches, scoring two goals in a 2-0 week, including the crucial tally in a 1-0 road GNAC Tournament win on Saturday. First on Wednesday, Blaha scored one minute into the second period to increase the Regis lead to 2-0.
Saturday against third-seeded Anna Maria, the five-time GNAC Rookie of the Week scored the game-winner four-plus minutes into the second period. Blaha led the team with six total shots, including five shots on goal as Regis controlled play for most of the contest. Blaha now has 17 goals and 35 total points, 23rd in the nation in goals per game (0.94) and 45th in Division III in points per game (1.94).
Regis (8-10) heads to Standish, Maine to face top-seed Saint Joseph's College (16-3) in one semifinal of the GNAC Tournament Wednesday, Nov. 6, with a 7 p.m. start time. The winner of the Pride-Monks match will take on the victor of the other semifinal between third seed Simmons and second seed Lasell in the championship match Saturday, Nov. 9.