Field Hockey Places Four on All-MAC Squads :: Martin, Gnozzio, Rachelle Coetzee earn First-Team honors

Nov. 7, 2008

KENT, Ohio - Four Bobcats were named to the All-MAC Teams, the league announced at the field hockey banquet Thursday evening. Seniors Rachelle Coetzee, Nikki Gnozzio and Jessie Martin earned First-Team All-MAC accolades, while senior Estienne Coetzee garnered All-MAC Second Team honors. It is the second-straight year Ohio has placed three members on the First Team.

Rachelle (Bloemfontein, S.A.), an accounting and MIS major, landed on the All-MAC First Team for the third-straight season. She appeared in all 21 games this season, starting 19, and leads the team with 11 goals, including two game-winners. Her six assists on the year rank second on the team, while she leads the Bobcats with 61 shots and 28 shots on goal. Rachelle sits in fourth place on Ohio’s career shots list with 235. She was named MAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Week on Sept. 4.

Gnozzio (Flanders, N.J.), a sport management major, was selected to the First Team for the second-straight year after anchoring the Bobcat defense throughout the season, starting all 21 games. She has started all 86 games in her Ohio career. Gnozzio leads the team with seven assists, tying a career high, and has scored a career-best five goals this year, including two game-winning goals. She earned MAC Defensive Player of the Week twice this season, including the final one last week, and was named to the Womensfieldhockey.com Honor Roll Sept. 30.

Martin (Louisville, Ky.), a sport management major, is a repeat selection to the All-MAC First Team, after being named Player of the Year in 2007, and was an All-MAC Second Team honoree as a sophomore. Martin has 110 saves in goal for Ohio, starting all 21 games this year, while recording two shutouts, and played a majority of the time in the Bobcats’ two team shutouts. Her 1,512 minutes played is tops in the conference. She made a career-high 15 saves on Sept. 3 against Ohio State, which ties for the 13th-most saves by one goalie in a Division I game this season. Her 1.73 goals against average ranked 31st in the country at the end of the regular season, while her 74.5 save percentage was 22nd in the nation. Martin was named the MAC’s Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 16.

Estienne (Bloemfontein, S.A.), an accounting and MIS major, is a four-time Second-Team All-MAC recipient. She has started 18 games this year and has four goals and three assists on the season, while patrolling Ohio’s midfield.

Kent State and Miami also placed three players on the First Team, while the Golden Flashes put four on the Second Team. KSU’s Kathleen Schanne took home Coach of the Year honors, while Central Michigan’s Samantha Sandham was named Player of the Year.

First-Team All-MAC
Kim Erasmus, CMU
Samantha Sandham, CMU
Debbie Bell, KSU (Freshman of the Year)
Stephanie Bernthal, KSU
Rachel Miller, KSU
Christine Brightwell, Miami
Katie Brightwell, Miami
Danielle Gaynor, Miami
Rachelle Coetzee, Ohio
Nikki Gnozzio, Ohio
Jessie Martin, Ohio (Goalie)

Second-Team All-MAC
Casey Hunsicker, BSU
Brooke MacGillivary, BSU
Moyra Betuzzi, CMU
Carla Johl, KSU
Allison Kittelberger, KSU
Caroline Suitch, KSU (Goalie)
Laurie Wilkins, KSU
Elizabeth Gilroy, Miami
Melissa Lantz, MSU
Amanda Miyashita, MSU
Estienne Coetzee, Ohio