PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Following an excellent regular season campaign, Rutgers field hockey was recognized with a historic haul of Big Ten awards. The Scarlet Knights won two major individual player awards, as Iris Langejans was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and Puck Winter was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Rutgers had five players overall named all-conference. Guillermina Causarano, Iris Langejans and Puck Winter were named to the First Team. Ava Cickavage and Paulina Niklaus were named to the Second Team. Additionally, Marique Dieudonne was RU's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.

Langejans is the second member of the program to ever be recognized as Big Ten Player of the Year, joining 2021 Big Ten Co-Player of the Year Gianna Glatz.  Winter is the first RU player to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolades. It is the second career individual award for Winter, who was named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year last season.

Rutgers' five all-conference honorees and three First Team selections both mark the program's most ever since joining the Big Ten and matched the most ever all-conference awardees. The last time that RU had five players named all-conference was 1995 in the program's first year playing in the BIG EAST. RU also twice had five all-conference selections in the Atlantic 10 in 1993 and 1994.

"Across this team we have so much talent and to have that recognized by our peers in the Big Ten is really humbling," head coach Meredith Civico said. "I'm really proud of this team. Obviously these are great individual awards, but they are really in the position that they are to win these major awards because of their teammates. They've been able to put them in that position to be honored. I'm incredibly proud of this team and this program. To have this recognition is really nice."

Langejans has made an impact all over the field this season. The native of Almelo, Netherlands has started all 17 games at back, helping RU allow just 1.41 goals per game, and the redshirt senior has also contributed a goal and five assists. Langejans, who was a First Team All-Big Ten selection (in addition to First Team All-Region and Third Team All-American), is one of three RU players to earn multiple First Team All-Big Ten selections since joining the league, joining Gianna Glatz and Katie Larmour.  In her career, Langejans has started all 58 games over three years, adding five goals and 14 assists.

Winter has nine defensive saves on the year, which is second nationally, and leads the Big Ten by five over second place and has eight more than third in the category. The native of Deventer in The Netherlands has also scored eight goals, which is second on the team. A redshirt sophomore who was Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year last season, Winter is a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and was the NFHCA National Defensive Player of the Week following the team's wins over No. 9 Ohio State and Michigan State.

Causarano leads the team with 12 goals, seven assists and 31 points, and a team-best four game-winning goals. The Salta, Argentina native is fourth in the Big Ten in both goals per game and points per game, while also placing among the top-10 in the league in assists. The junior is having a breakout season offensively, surpassing her previous career-highs in all categories, and has twice been named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. The team captain was also named NFHCA National Offensive Player of the Week following a hat trick against UMass, RU's first national offensive award recognition since 2019. For her career she now has 16 goals and 11 assists in 58 games.

Cickavage has made an immediate impact in her first season 'On the Banks'. The Moorestown, N.J. native has started 16 games at center midfield. She was also a Big Ten Preseason Player to Watch and member of the NFHCA Collegiate Watch List.

Niklaus has played and started in 14 games during her first collegiate season. The Manheim, Germany native has played between defensive midfield and back, helping stabilize the RU backline. Offensively, she has collected two goals and four assists on the season, entering the postseason on a two-game goal-scoring streak.

Dieudonne was named a team captain for this season. The graduate student from Asten in The Netherlands has been an impact player for the team at forward, starting in all 14 games she's played. Dieudonne has a new career-high with six goals this season, now totalling 10 goals in 32 games (all starts) in her two-year RU career.

Up next for Rutgers is the Big Ten Tournament. The Scarlet Knights earned the No. 2 seed, and will play No. 7 seed and host school Michigan in the Quarterfinals on Thursday at 2 p.m.