2024 Field Hockey Season Honors, All-ACC Teams Announced
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Following an extremely competitive and exciting regular season, the Atlantic Coast Conference unveiled its 2024 Field Hockey season honors and All-ACC Team on Monday. The honors were selected by a vote of the league’s nine head coaches.
North Carolina junior forward Ryleigh Heck was tabbed as the ACC Offensive Player of the Year, while Virginia senior defender Jans Croon was selected as the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Boston College sophomore Charley Kramer notched ACC Goalkeeper of the Year honors, while California’s Liz Klompmaker earned ACC Freshman of the Year laurels. North Carolina’s Erin Matson was selected as the ACC Coach of the Year.
Heck, the reigning NFHCA Division I National Player of the Year, earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors after scoring 12 goals and recording an ACC-leading 15 assists throughout the regular season. Heck ranked second throughout the ACC with 39 points, averaging 2.60 points per game for the Tar Heels. Entering the 2024 ACC Field Hockey Championship, Heck’s 1.00 assists per game is tied for the nation’s best.
Croon helped push Virginia to a 6-2 record in league action and a 13-3 record overall. The San Diego, California, native anchored the Cavaliers’ back line throughout the season as the team allowed just 1.43 goals per game. A threat on both ends of the field, Croon added a career-high four goals and two assists during her senior campaign.
In her first season of collegiate action, Kramer posted an 11-5 record in the cage and helped Boston College earn the No. 3 seed in the 2024 ACC Field Hockey Championship. Kramer has had a hand in five shutouts for the Eagles, logging 56 saves throughout the season. The Severna Park, Maryland, native stopped 74.7 percent of shots during the regular season, logging 3.47 saves per game.
Klompmaker is the first student-athlete from Cal to win a yearly award in the ACC. A native of Groningen, The Netherlands, Klompmaker scored 15 goals and logged 31 points on the season, including five game-winning goals. As a freshman, her 0.94 goals per game ranks second in the ACC.
Matson led North Carolina to an undefeated regular season and the ACC regular season championship. It is the first ACC Coach of the Year award for Matson after guiding her team to an NCAA Championship in her debut season last year. The top-seeded Tar Heels enter the 2024 ACC Field Hockey Championship ranked second nationally in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches Poll.
All nine ACC teams had at least one All-ACC honoree. North Carolina led all schools with five players on the All-ACC Team, including three on the first team. Boston College and Duke each had five honorees and tied for the second-most All-ACC selections.
The 2024 ACC Field Hockey Championship will be held Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at Wake Forest University’s Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Seven-time reigning conference champion North Carolina is the No. 1 seed and will meet ACC-newcomer Cal, the No. 8 seed, in Tuesday’s 10 a.m. ET quarterfinal game. The winner of the Tar Heels and Golden Bears game will meet the winner of No. 4 Virginia and No. 5 Syracuse, whom will meet in the quarterfinals at 12:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Wednesday’s semifinal will be played at 1 p.m. ET.
In the second set of quarterfinals on Tuesday, No. 2 Duke will play No. 7 Wake Forest at 3:30 p.m. ET. Tuesday’s nightcap will feature No. 3 Boston College and No. 6 Stanford. The winners of each quarterfinal match will meet in Wednesday's second semifinal, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The championship game will be played at noon ET on Friday. ACC Network will show all tournament action live, with Leah Secondo and Suzanne Bush on the call.
Offensive Player of the Year – Ryleigh Heck, F, Jr., North Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year – Jans Croon, D, Sr., Virginia
Goalkeeper of the Year – Charley Kramer, GK, So., Boston College
Freshman of the Year – Liz Klompmaker, F, Fr., Cal
Coach of the Year – Erin Matson, North Carolina
First Team All-ACC
Second Team All-ACC
12 players on the second team due to a tie in the voting