Hoffman Wins Honda Award

Ashley Hoffman, who led the UNC field hockey team to a national championship and undefeated season this fall before graduating from North Carolina earlier this month, has been named the Honda Sport Award winner for Field Hockey as announced today by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).

A defender from Mohnton, Pa., Hoffman is the fourth UNC player to win the award, following Leslie Lyness (1989), Cindy Werley (1996 and 1997) and Rachel Dawson (2007). Carolina coach Karen Shelton won it three years in a row, 1977-79, while a player at West Chester and remains the only three-time recipient.

"I was so excited to hear I'd won, and it was awesome to get the news from Coach Shelton, since she's a past winner of the award," Hoffman said. "I could not have won this award without her support, and the support of the entire staff and my team.

"One of the things I focused on at Carolina was community outreach, so to have this award recognize what I've done both on and off the field means a lot to me. It's validation that I became the best player and best person I could be at this university."

The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 43 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics." With this honor, Hoffman becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious Class of 2019 Honda Cup, which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on June 24, 2019, in Los Angeles.

Hoffman was selected by a vote of administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Other finalists were Paula Portugal (Miami Ohio), Anna Willocks (Saint Joseph's) and Elise Wong (Princeton).

"I could not be more thrilled for Ashley," Shelton said. "This is our sport's most prestigious honor and it recognizes the fact that she was clearly the best player in the nation this season. She excelled on offense and defense and led us so well. She was the best player on the best team in the country.

"This award also recognizes the fact that she excelled academically and in community outreach during her four years. She's had an outstanding all-around career here – great player, great leader, great teammate, great student. She has made us all so proud and will go down in program history as one of our all-time best."

Hoffman led the Tar Heels to the 2018 NCAA Championship and earned NCAA Championship MVP honors. A starter in all 96 games during her career, she was twice named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and is a two-time first-team All-America selection. During her four years at UNC, the team had an 82-14 record with an NCAA title, three ACC titles and four appearances in the final four.

As center back, she led a UNC defense that gave up just 16 goals in 23 games and never more than two to any team, including a 2-0 shutout of Maryland in the NCAA final. She was also a leader on the nation's highest scoring offense, ranking second on the team in goals with 16 and in points with 39, both career highs.

A two-time All-ACC Academic selection, she graduated from UNC earlier this month with a degree in sociology. While at Carolina, Hoffman was active in community outreach, both with the team and on her own, and as part of UNC's Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy.

"It's been a pleasure to watch the way Ashley has represented UNC during her career and especially as a senior, when she led the team to an undefeated season," said UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. "She's undoubtedly one of the top players in the history of an exceptional program. She's also a great example of a student who has excelled in all areas, and she's someone we're very proud to call a Tar Heel."

Hoffman now turns her attention to the U.S. National Team, of which she has been a member since her sophomore year, juggling national team training and competition while also succeeding academically.

In winning the honor Hoffman follows in the footsteps of her mother, Brenda (Stauffer) Hoffman, who was the national player of the year in 1982 as a player at Penn State. "It's funny how much we've paralleled each other," Ashley said. "She joined the national team as a sophomore, so did I. She won a national championship, so did I. So this is one more way our field hockey careers have matched up."

Honda Sport Award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year.

The CWSA, in its 43rd year, honors the nation's top NCAA women athletes recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.1 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs at the institutions.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

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Ashley Hoffman

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