NEW YORK – Villanova fifth-year forward Meghan Mitchell and sophomore goalkeeper Maddi Sears have each earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, the conference announced Tuesday (Oct. 1).
 
With nine honor roll nods and three offensive player of the week awards, Mitchell has earned the 12th BIG EAST weekly award of her career, a new program record. The Villanova native recorded her first multi-goal game of the season against Quinnipiac (Sept. 27), scoring two to lead the Wildcats to a 4-2 win.
 
Then, she led a front line for Villanova that nearly outshot No. 7-ranked Iowa (8-7 in favor of U-I) and held the Hawkeyes to just five shots on goal with an impressive press defense.
 
The weekly honor roll spot is a career-first for Sears, who made four saves against Quinnipiac on Friday (Sept. 27) to earn her sixth win of the season. Then, she held No. 7-ranked Iowa to just one goal on Sunday (Sept. 29), before she was pulled late in the fourth quarter. The Avondale, Pa., native made three saves and posted a .750 save percentage in the tightly contested game against the Hawkeyes.
 
Sears has put together a strong season in the cage for the Wildcats, recording 31 total saves and holding opponents to just 1.7 goals per game. She posted shutouts against Sacred Heart (Sept. 1) and La Salle (Sept. 16), the first Villanova goalkeeper to post multiple shutouts in a season since Erika Miller in 2016.
 
Up next, Mitchell and Sears will take the field at No. 8 UConn on Friday (Oct. 4) at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex in Storrs, Conn. The game will begin at 1 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on FloSports.