ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- After leading the Christopher Newport field hockey team to a pair of victories last week, Caroline Hughlett earned national acclaim for her performance as the first-year sensation was selected as the Synapse Sports National Rookie of the Week.

The honor is the second weekly award for Hughlett after she was previously named the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.

Adding her name to an exclusive group of Captains, she became just the sixth player in program history to receive the national rookie recognition. Current teammate Abby Asuncion was the last player to earn the honor after she was celebrated on October 29, 2019. Meanwhile, former legends Marcella Sabbagh, Brittan Muir, Stephanie Bair, and Anne Gehring also picked up the freshman plaudit during their decorated careers.

Headlining CNU's attack last week, Hughlett led the Captains with three goals during the two victories. On Wednesday, she deposited the game-winning dart during a 3-1 win against No. 5 Salisbury. After generating a corner with pressure on the left side of the circle, she capitalized on the opportunity with a dagger along the post to help cap off the come-from-behind triumph.

With that tally, she became just the second freshman in program history to land the clinching blow against a top-five opponent. Asuncion was the only other player to accomplish that feat after posting the winner against No. 5 Johns Hopkins during her debut campaign on September 8, 2019.

Continuing her award-winning week on Sunday, Hughlett came back with a pair of missiles during a 6-0 victory at Centre after converting twice in the second half. That performance marked her first career multi-goal effort.

Overall this season, Hughlett ranks sixth in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference with 21 points. That total also stands as the fourth-highest by a first-year competitor in program history.

Hughlett and the rest of her teammates will return to action on Saturday when the Captains travel to Mary Washington for the regular season finale at 1 p.m.

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