TOWSON, Md. - The Landmark Conference announced its 2023 Field Hockey All-Conference teams and major award winners on Tuesday afternoon. The league awards are nominated and voted on by the leagues 10 head coaches.
Offensive Player of the Year: Katie Redding (University of Scranton)
Defensive Player of the Year: Kari Schmidt (Susquehanna University)
Rookie of the Year: Hannah Garlin (Susquehanna University)
Coaching Staff of the Year: Susquehanna University
Redding makes Landmark history by becoming the first back-to-back Offensive Player of the Year. The senior earned the same recognition in 2022. Additionally, she is the fourth Scranton field hockey player to be honored.
The Havertown, Pa. native led the conference with 17 goals and ranked tied in second with seven assists. On October 14, Redding set Scranton's career assist record (23), surpassing Alyssa Fania's 22. The senior was not done breaking records, as just a few short weeks later, Redding broke a 38-year-old all-time points record (132), surpassing Denise Atkinson, who tallied 122.
For the third straight year, a Susquehanna University field hockey player has been honored as the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Junior Kari Schmidt joins former teammate, Annalee Smith as the only River Hawk to earn the recognition. Schmidt was the anchor to the SU defense that posted nine shutout victories and allowed only six goals in conference games this year.
Garlin joined Schmidt as part of the River Hawks defensive line that ranked second in the Landmark conference with a 1.00 goals-against average. She started in all 20 games for Susquehanna where she scored one goal to go along with two assists. She also contributed four defensive saves.
Head coach Allison Fordyce and her staff, assistant coaches Kirby Szalkowski, Alyssa Broadt, and Ashtin Midkiff, guided Susquehanna to a 15-5 overall record and 8-1 in conference play to earn the top seed in the Landmark Field Hockey Tournament. In the championship match, the River Hawks defeated Scranton, 2-1 in a penalty shootout to secure the program's second Landmark title and automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.