NEW YORK—Freshman forward Meghan Mitchell (Villanova, Pa.) and freshman back Sabine de Ruijter (Huizen, Netherlands) were each recognized with BIG EAST weekly awards on Monday afternoon. Mitchell was chosen as the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, while de Ruijter was the Freshman of the Week. The pair each scored their first career game-winning goals during the weekend.
 
Mitchell caught fire during a 5-0 win on Sunday afternoon when she netted her first collegiate hat trick. She played a hand in four of the five goals scored in the game, finishing the day with three goals and one assist. Mitchell opened the scoring in the 22^nd minute with a goal off a corner, added a second tally just over two minutes later and then set up a third goal two minutes after that.
 
Villanova scored its first four goals of Sunday's win in a span of just 5:23 on the clock during the second quarter, and Mitchell later added her third goal of the day with 6:21 left in the fourth period. Mitchell's hat trick was the first by a Wildcats freshman since Ally Smith tallied three goals against West Chester on September 26, 2007.
 
In addition to her big game on Sunday afternoon Mitchell also scored a game-tying goal in the third quarter of a 3-2 win over the Bobcats a day earlier. That score came on a breakaway scoring chance when Mitchell collected a pass and beat the keeper 1-v-1 for the goal. Mitchell leads the Villanova offense through the first eight games of the season with five goals and 11 points. She has scored on five of her 14 shots on the year.
 
The combination of Mitchell and de Ruijiter was a winning formula for the Wildcats during their fourth conference weekend of the spring. In the 3-2 win on Saturday afternoon, de Ruijter scored a pair of goals off corners in the second half. The first came in the 35^th minute and gave Villanova its first lead of the game at 2-1, while her second goal in the 54^th minute was the difference in the contest as the Wildcats went ahead 3-1 and then hung on when Quinnipiac scored with less than a minute to play.
 
de Ruijter added an assist on the final goal of the game in the 5-0 win on Sunday to finish the weekend with five total points. She has been a key player for Villanova in her first collegiate season as a starter on defense and a scoring threat on set pieces. de Ruijter leads the Wildcats with 19 shots and 10 shots on goal for the season. She has also made a pair of defensive saves on the back line.
 
Villanova is 3-5 on the season and will take a step back from BIG EAST play over the next two weekends. Next up on the Wildcats schedule are home games against Drexel (March 27/4:00 PM) and La Salle (March 29/4:00 PM).