Infante Tabbed National Player of the Year for the Second Time
12/12/2006 7:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Dec. 12, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland senior Paula Infante has won the Honda Award, presented to the nation's most outstanding field hockey player of the year. She becomes only the third player in the 31-year history of the award, and the first in the program, to win the honor multiple times after receiving the award in 2005. Infante becomes the second player in the history of Maryland athletics to win the award twice.
Paula Infante (Santiago, Chile) leaves behind a legacy of excellence. She led the Terrapins to two-straight NCAA titles in 2005 and 2006, the first time in the history of the program. During her tenure, Maryland also advanced to the national semifinals all four years, also a first for the program.
Infante is the most honored Terrapin in team history. She is the first player to ever earn first team All-American honors four times. She also became the first player to garner multiple conference player of the year honors, when she was selected the ACC's Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season.
Infante is a four-time All-ACC honoree, fourth player in the program to earn four all-conference nods. She was also named to the All-ACC Tournament team four times and was the first Terp to be selected to the All-NCAA Field Hockey Tournament team four times.
In 2006, Infante was tied for the team lead with five game-winning goals and was tied for second with 12 goals, while also ranking second with 33 points. She was also third with seven assists. She helped the defense tie the school record with 12 shutouts, as the Terrapin backfield led the nation with a 0.70 goals against average.
Infante's career numbers are just as impressive. Over her career, she scored 58 goals, which tied for fifth all-time in the Maryland record books. Her 139 points are seventh all-time. In the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, she scored a school-record tying five goals in the 5-2 victory over Delaware, also setting an NCAA Tournament record for most goals and points in a postseason contest.
Infante is one of just two field hockey Terps to ever win the Honda Award. Former Terrapin Autumn Welsh was the 2001 recipient. Women's lacrosse standout Jen Adams, current Associate Head Coach of the Terps, is the only Terrapin to win the Honda Award, winning it in 2000 and 2001.
Infante becomes a candidate for the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup, presented to the country's top female athlete across all sports. A donation of $5,000 will be made to the Maryland athletic department by the American Honda Co., Inc.
Ballots are distributed each year to senior women's administrators at all NCAA member schools to determine the Honda Award winner. The award winners in 12 sports are nominees for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the year with the winner receiving the Honda Broderick Cup. The winner will be announced in New York City in June 2007.
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