GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – A season-high four student-athletes have been recognized as Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Players of the Week following an eventful weekend of both conference and non-league action.
North Carolina senior forward Erin Matson (Co-Offensive Player of the Week) and Virginia freshman Jet Trimborn (Co-Defensive Player of the Week) are repeat honorees from last week and are joined by Virginia freshman midfielder Daniela Mendez-Trendler (Co-Offense) and Wake Forest freshman goalkeeper Ellie Todd (Co-Defense).
Matson scored the game-winner on Sunday and then kept on going, finishing with four goals in top-ranked UNC's 6-3 win at No. 14 Liberty. Matson's first goal, which put UNC up for good, came on her first penalty stroke attempt of the season, in the fifth minute of play. After UNC scored another then Liberty answered with one, she scored again 23 seconds before halftime to put the Tar Heels up 3-1 at the break.
Coming out of halftime, Matson assisted on a goal by Paityn Wirth and then scored back-to-back to put UNC up 6-1 early in the fourth quarter against the Flames, who had allowed just seven total goals in the season's first 10 games and led the nation in scoring margin.
Matson's nine points on the day brought her to exactly 300 points for her career, six shy of equaling the ACC's all-time scoring mark. The Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, native’s four goals tied her single-game high and marked the fourth time during her UNC career that she's scored that many in a single game.
Virginia’s Mendez-Trendler scored both goals in the No. 7 Cavaliers’ 2-0 win over No. 5 Louisville in last Friday’s ACC top-10 showdown, and then followed with the first goal in a late fourth-quarter flurry that carried the Cavaliers to a 3-0 win over No. 19 William & Mary.
Mendez-Trendler helped UVA set the tone early against Louisville, scoring her first goal 2:26 into the contest. Senior Laura Janssen took off on a breakaway, sending a laser pass to Mendez-Trendler in front of the net. Mendez-Trendler took on the goalie one-on-one, winning the showdown to put the Cavaliers ahead. With just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Mendez-Trendler scored again off an assist from Anneloes Knol to give the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead that help up until game’s end.
On Sunday, the freshman from Reisterstown, Maryland, scored the first goal of the game around the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter to open the late floodgates for the Cavaliers, who outshot the Tribe 24-0.
The back-to-back shutout wins were the second and third straight clean sheets of the season for Virginia’s Trimborn, who made four saves in the win over Louisville. The Bossum, Netherlands native has now played more than 204 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal.
Wake Forest’s Todd pitched her third shutout of the season in Wake Forest's ACC 3-0 home-opening win against No. 22 Duke on Sunday. In addition to blanking the Blue Devils, Todd earned her seventh win and tallied five saves in 60 minutes in goal.
It marked the first time since 2018 Wake Forest shut out their Big Four rival. A native of Boston, Todd has helped the Demon Deacons hold an opponent to two goals or less nine times this season.