COOKE, NAGENGAST NAMED TO AMERICA EAST FIELD HOCKEY ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

CALLY COOKE

KATHERINE NAGENGAST

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Cally Cooke (Newburyport, Mass.) and Katherine Nagengast (Westborough, Mass.) of the University of New Hampshire were selected to the 2009 America East Field Hockey All-Academic Team, the league announced Tuesday.

Cooke, who was also voted to the 2008 All-Academic Team, was a unanimous selection to this year’s squad. The senior back started all 19 games and tallied two goals and an assist for five points. Cooke recorded a goal and an assist in the regular-season finale at Harvard University (Nov. 3) and scored the game-winning tally vs. UC Davis (Sept. 12) when she gave the ‘Cats a 1-0 lead. She was an instrumental part of the defensive penalty corner unit and also saw significant time on the offensive penalty corner unit. Cooke is a business administration/management major with a 3.69 GPA who has been named to the University’s Dean’s list every semester.

Nagengast, a sophomore goalkeeper, started all 19 games and played every second in goal (1359 minutes, 22 seconds). She compiled a 12-7 record with a 2.32 GAA, .679 save percentage and four shutouts, a total that led the America East conference. Nagengast made her first career start in the season opener, a 5-2 loss to third-ranked Syracuse and recorded her first career victory with a two-save effort at Brown (Sept. 4).

In five America East league games, she went 3-2 with a 2.00 GAA and .706 save percentage. Her season highlights included a career-high 10-save effort at 20th-ranked Providence (Sept. 6; 4-3 loss) and a nine-save performance at 12th-ranked Duke (Sept. 27). Nagengast recorded a 1.71 GAA and .767 save percentage in the four-game winning streak at the end of the regular season, and in the last eight regular-season games she was 7-1 with a 1.43 GAA and .786 save percentage. Nagengast is majoring in pedagogy with a 3.62 GPA who has been named to the Dean’s List every semester.

For the second straight year, America East selected the All-Academic team using CoSIDA’s Academic All-America program as a model. Student-athletes worthy of consideration are nominated by member sports information directors and voted on by a committee of SIDs, academic advisors and faculty representatives from all nine member institutions.

All-Academic squads for team sports are based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., 11 on the field for field hockey) but can be more if there is a tie in voting. To be nominated for the distinction, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve for their team and participate in at least 50 percent of their team’s games or competitions. In the classroom, student-athletes must have a 3.30 GPA and have completed at least one calendar year at their institution. Freshmen are not eligible for consideration.

UNH finished the 2009 season with a 12-7 overall record and advanced to the America East semifinals for the third consecutive year.