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Iowa

Dionne van Aalsum wins Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Esme Gibson earns First Team honors

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann11/01/23HuesmannKyle
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Dionne van Aalsum and Esme Gibson earned All-Big Ten honors. (Photo by Stephen Mally/UI Athletics)

The field hockey season has concluded and teams are getting set to play in their respective conference tournaments, with the NCAA Tournament set to begin next weekend. In the Big Ten, the conference tournament gets underway on Thursday with three quarterfinals matches. As is the normal tradition, the conference unveiled their all-conference teams and their player of the year awards.

For the Hawkeyes, a pair of players earned postseason honors. True freshman Dionne van Aalsum won Big Ten Freshman of the Year and earned First Team All-Big Ten honors, while fifth-year senior and team captain Esme Gibson earned First Team All-Big Ten honors. Harder Dunne was Iowa’s recipient for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The Hawkeyes have had at least one First Team selection in each of the past 13 seasons.

Out of Castricum, Netherlands, Dionne van Aalsum made her presence known right off the bat with 21 goals in the first eight games. She scored multiple goals in each of those games, including four goals against Central Michigan and UMass Lowell. van Aalsum finished the regular season with 13 goals in ten games against ranked opponents. On the season, she has 27 goals scored, which leads the country, while six assists gives her an NCAA leading 60 total points.

Dionne won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week four times, Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times and was also named NFHCA Offensive Player of the Week twice. van Aalsum is the the sixth player in program history to win the award and the first since Katie Birch won the award in 2016.

Out of Worcestershire, England, Esme Gibson has been a starter in the Iowa midfield for each of her five seasons with the program. She has racked up 94 starts over the course of her career and has been a team captain for the last two years. Gibson is a two-time NFHCA All-American, with her sights set on a third All-American selection this season. She has now a three-time All-Big Ten selection and will become a four-time All-West Region selection when that is released at the end of the season.

Over the course of her five year career, Esme has racked up 15 goals and 14 assists. Her best statistical season came in 2021, when she scored six goals and had a pair of assists. This season, Gibson has two goals and four assists, including a three assist game against Central Michigan. She is arguably one of the most versatile players in the country, as she has played games this season on the back line of the defense and in the midfield. She has been able to help set up scoring chances for the Hawkeyes, while also helping defend on the other end, as a key piece of the teams defensive penalty corner team.

Out of Forth Worth, Texas, Harper Dunne has been a starter ever since she stepped on campus at Iowa. She started the first 67 games of her career, before sustaining a season-ending injury to her foot against Michigan back on September 22nd. Although she is out for the season, Dunne is still an instrumental part of the team as a captain. The Sportsmanship Award distinction is presented to student-athletes who display sportsmanship and ethical behavior, are in good academic standing, and demonstrate good citizenship outside of athletics.

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