Oley’s Gladieux finalist for national award

Oley Valley grad Sophia Gladieux, a junior at Penn State, has been named one of the four finalists for the Class of 2023 Honda Sport Award for field hockey, it was announced Wednesday.

The other finalists are Northwestern’s Bente Baekers, North Carolina’s Erin Matson and Princeton’s Beth Yeager.

The Honda Sport Award is given annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports. It signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics,” according to a release.

The winner of the sport award will be a finalist for the Collegiate Athlete of the Year and the 2023 Honda Cup, which will be presented in June.

The winner of the field hockey award will be announced this week, following voting by administrators from NCAA member schools. Each school has a vote. The finalists were selected by a panel of experts and coaches from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.

Gladieux, a forward, was named a first-team AllAmerican by the NFHCA for the second straight year after registering a teamhigh 23 goals and three assists for 49 points. She helped the Nittany Lions (17-4) reach the Final Four.

She was named Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, a first-team All-Big Ten pick, the NFHCA Mideast Regional Player of the Year and to the NCAA AllTournament team.

Baekers, a fifth-year forward and three-time firstteam All-American, had 25 goals and 58 points for the NCAA runner-up Wildcats.

Matson, a senior forward, is a two-time winner of the Honda Sport Award for field hockey (2019, 2020) and a fourtime finalist. She is a fivetime Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and scored the winning goal as the Tar Heels won the 2022 NCAA title.

Yeager, a sophomore midfielder, is a two-time Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year who had 12 goals and 32 points in the fall.