Tara Vittese Named the National Offensive Player of the Week

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Sept. 6, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia field hockey senior midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) was named the Longstreth/NFHCA National Offensive Player of the Week in honors announced by the National Field Hockey Coaches’ Association on Wednesday (Sept. 6).

Vittese, who was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday, accumulated 19 points in two games over the weekend, scoring eight goals with three assists. In Friday’s 9-0 blanking of Columbia, she scored three goals and assisted on three others, having a hand in six of the nine Virginia goals. In Sunday’s victory, the senior midfielder scored all five of the Cavaliers’ goals in a 5-3 win over Monmouth. The Hawks twice pulled to within a goal in that game, only to have Vittese answer with an insurance score.

Vittese’s five-goal game marked the first time since 1975 that a Virginia player scored five goals in a game, and tied the ACC single-game record accomplished most recently by North Carolina’s Gab Major in 2015.

This is her second time being named the NFHCA National Offensive Player of the Week after also garnering the honor once last season.