TROY, N.Y. – After helping the Union College women's lacrosse team to an undefeated week, senior
Isabelle Suttie and first-year
Sydney Widlitz were recognized by the Liberty League as the Defensive Performer of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively, the conference announced on Monday afternoon.
The honor is the first weekly conference honor for both players. Suttie is Union's first Defensive Player of the Week since current
Drew Charlton earned the honor in the first week of the 2022 season, while Widlitz is the team's first Rookie of the Week since
Lindsay Gerrato '21 in 2018.
Suttie had a big week as the leader of the Union defensive unit, combining for six caused turnovers and five ground balls in victories over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and #13 Ithaca College. She forced three turnovers and had a ground ball on Wednesday in a 12-9 win over the Engineers, all coming in the second half as Union outscored RPI 6-3 over the final 30 minutes. She added four ground balls and three caused turnovers on Saturday in the 13-11 upset win over Ithaca, with all three CTs resulting in Union goals on the subsequent possession.
In her second season as a starter, Suttie leads the team with 11 caused turnovers through eight games and also ranks fourth on the squad with 11 ground balls.
Widlitz also had a pair of huge games in goal for Union last week, making 28 saves with a 10.00 goals against average in the two conference victories. On Wednesday against the Engineers, the first-year saved a season-high 16 shots, including five stops in the fourth quarter of the comeback victory. She added 12 more saves and five ground balls on Saturday against #13 Ithaca, including five stops in the fourth quarter and four in the final 2:11 to keep the Bombers scoreless in the decisive final frame. In the two games, Widlitz saved 10 shots on free-position attempts (including five just in the fourth quarter) in limiting opponents to a 4-of-21 effort overall from the eight-meter arc.
The first-year netminder enters the week 6-1 with a 7.76 goals against average and .522 save percentage in eight starts, ranking second in the Liberty League in save percentage and third in goals against average.
Union, which is receiving votes in the latest ILWomen/IWLCA Division III Poll, will continue Liberty League play on Friday with another key conference clash at St. Lawrence University beginning at 4 p.m.
