Sophomore defensive player Emily Mason on the Rutgers women’s soccer team was named Big Ten defensive player of the week due to her performance on September 18. The Rutgers match against the Ohio State Buckeyes was a clean slate with a score of 2-0 only allowing 2 shots on goal, both with a miss. Allison Lowery scored the first goal within the first five minutes of the game. The second goal was scored by Sara Brocious with 54 minutes of game time. The Flemington, New Jersey native played all 90 minutes on Sunday, September 18, just like the other 6/7 matches this season participated in. She missed the first two matches of the year while serving on the United States Youth National Team in Costa Rica for the 2022 U20 Women’s World Cup. 

This is Mason’s first Big Ten honorable mention, joining teammates Allison Lowery and Sam Kroeger’s offensive player of the week awards earlier this year.  In the 9 matches the team has played this season, they were able to pull off 5 shutouts. The Rutgers back players have allowed 5 or fewer shots on goal, all out of 9 games. As a Sophomore in 2022, Emily scored her first collegiate goal against Temple, with a team effort for a score of 7-0. In her Freshman year, she had 1,594 minutes of game time, along with the start of her sophomore season, playing 693 minutes. 

 With the Rutgers match at Penn State on September 22, Emily played all 90 minutes, with a loss of 0-2. With a Penn State advantage on their home turf, the team has scored 23 goals this season, with only more to come, and only allowed 6 goals and shots from opposing teams. The girls have so far played at Providence, and Penn State, and have hosted Buffalo, Temple, Princeton, La Salle, and Ohio State.

Overall, Emily Mason deserved this big ten award, as well as her team. Holding a spot on the United States Youth National Team and accomplishing an honor to be the Gatorade player of the year, in 2020, just at the start of her freshman year.