CORTLAND, N.Y. - The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) announces the 2018 field hockey annual awards. The conference coaches voted for the Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and the All-Conference teams.

Offensive Player of the Year - Jess Gibaldi, Cortland

Gibaldi, the Cortland senior, started all 20 matches for the Red Dragons this season and played an important part in the team finishing with a 13-6-1 overall record and 4-2 SUNYAC record. She finished the season with 57 points, 21 goals, 15 assists, five game-winning goals, and a .701 shot on goal percentage. Gibaldi's name is seen throughout the top of the SUNYAC stats leaderboard, she led the conference in points, goals, assists, shots, and shots on goal. The SUNYAC tournament brought the best out in Gibaldi, in the first round she scored two goals in the game including the game-winning goal in double overtime, as No.2 Cortland defeated No. 3 Oneonta, 3-2. In the SUNYAC Championship game against New Paltz she scored three minutes into the game to give Cortland an early 1-0 lead, but her goal was not enough as New Paltz came back and defeated Cortland, 2-1.

Defensive Player of the Year - Julia Kim, Geneseo

The Geneseo Knight's junior, Kim, started all 16 of the games this season and anchored a very strong defense to the lowest amount of goals allowed in the conference. As a team Geneseo only allowed 20 goals and had a 1.24 goals allowed average. The Geneseo goalkeepers playing behind Kim had to make 48 saves throughout the season, the lowest in the conference, the next closest team had a 102 saves. With one of the best defenses in the SUNYAC, Geneseo finished the regular season ranked No. 4, but was defeated in the semifinals by the No. 1 seeded New Paltz, 3-2. Kim and the Knights finished the season with a 9-7 record overall and a 6-2 SUNYAC record.

Rookie of the Year - Jessica Ascencao, New Paltz

In her first season, freshman back Jessica Ascenao started all 19 games for New Paltz and helped them to a 12-7 overall record and 5-1 SUNYAC record. In those 19 games Ascenao finished with 12 goals, 3 assists, 27 points, .529 shot on goal percentage, and three game-winning goals. During the first round of the SUNYAC tournament, she assisted on the second goal for New Paltz to give them a 2-1 lead. The Hawks went on to defeat Geneseo, 3-2 and advanced to the championship game to play Cortland. Ascencao and the New Paltz team defeated the Red Dragons, 2-1, as they held Cortland, the highest scoring team in the conference, to only one goal and nine shots on goal.

Coach of the Year - Shanna Szablinski, New Paltz

Szablinski completed her 10th season as the head coach of New Paltz by winning the programs fifth SUNYAC championship. Since taking over in 2009 she has turned the program into a title contender every season. This championship is her fifth as the head coach, she also led the program to championships in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. This will be her fifth time being awarded SUNYAC Coach of the Year, she won it in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015. Szablinski will be looking to advance past the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the third time in her tenure as head coach.

2018 SUNYAC Field Hockey All Conference Teams (PDF)