MANSFIELD, Mass. – Graduate student Laura van der Doorn (Beverwijk, The Netherlands) of the Southern New Hampshire University field hockey team was pegged as the prestigious Northeast-10 Woman of the Year on Tuesday.
van der Doorn becomes the first NE10 Woman of the Year from SNHU in the 15-year history of the award, as well as the fourth field hockey student-athlete to earn the honor.
van der Doorn submitted the most decorated campaign in program history, becoming Penmen field hockey's first NFHCA All-America First Team honoree, in addition to being named both the NFHCA East Region and Northeast-10 Player of the Year. Earning her second straight NE10 First Team nod, van der Doorn registered 15 goals and five assists for 35 points, as she established a new program record for goals. She also had two separate goals appear on ESPN SportsCenter's "Top 10." The captain ranked eighth in the nation in goals and 11th in points, while placing first and second in conference in those respective categories. van der Doorn, who was pursuing her Master's degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and had posted a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, was also exquisite in the classroom, earning multiple academic accolades, including the NFHCA Division II National Scholar-Athlete and NE10 Sport Excellence Award. van der Doorn, SNHU's 2019-20 Female Athlete of the Year, also received College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District At-Large Team and NE10 Academic All-Conference honors, in addition to seeing her name on the Zag Sports/NFHCA National Academic Squad and Scholars of Distinction lists.
Previously, SNHU has been home to two NE10 Man of the Year winners, including Kyle Thomas (2015) and Tyler McLaren (2018).
The NE10 bestows this prestigious honor upon a graduating student-athlete who has exhausted her athletic eligibility and who has exhibited sustained excellence in competition, the classroom, and in their community service endeavors. The recipient of the NE10's Woman of the Year is designated as the conference's nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award program. The NE10 award is voted upon annually by the NE10's Senior Woman Administrators Council. van der Doorn is one of two student-athletes to earn the honor this season, along with senior Nina Predanic of the College of Saint Rose women's soccer team.
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