Kansas City, MO – A day after earning conference honors, Bella Ricchiazzi and Trinity Brown garnered a trio of national honors for their performance last week.  Ricchiazzi was named the National Offensive Player of the Week for both the IWLCA as well as the NAIA, while Brown earned NAIA Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. 

The Patriots are coming off of a milestone week, where they went 3-0 with two wins over ranked opponents.  UC's 13-12 win over top-ranked Keiser is the program's first win over a NAIA top-ranked team in the program's history.  It's the fourth time in program history that the Patriots have swept the national players of the week, and the first since March 10, 2020.

Ricchiazzi was named the IWLCA and the NAIA Offensive Player of the Week after recording 22 points, 14 goals and 8 assists, across UC's three games.  The junior was dominant in the Patriots win over top-ranked Keiser notching six goals and four assists in the game, which was her fourth double-digit point output of her career.  Ricchiazzi capped off the win by netting the game-winning goal at the 4:08 mark in the fourth quarter, which was also her 200^th career goal making her the third Patriot to net 200 goals in their career. 

The Framingham, MA native followed that up with five goals, six points, and four caused turnovers in the win over (RV) Webber.  Ricchiazzi netted the go-ahead goal late in the first quarter to put Cumberlands in control and never looked back.  The junior opened the week with three goals and three assists in the Patriots 20-4 win over Ave Maria to open the week.  On the season, Ricchiazzi is ranked in the top-five of the NAIA in goals (41), assists (22) and points (63).  This marks the second time in her career that she has garnered National Player of the Week accolades.
 
Brown earned NAIA Defensive Player of the Week accolades for the second time this season and the third time in her career after having a standout week.  The junior recorded 32 draw controls and six caused turnovers on the week.  She opened the week scooping a career-high 14 draw controls in the win over Ave Maria, while being part of the Patriots defense that limited the Gyrenes to just one goal over the first three quarters of play.  Against the top-ranked Seahawks, Brown recorded four caused turnovers and five draw controls in the game.  The Fayetteville, GA native scooped the draw control late in the fourth quarter that led to the game-winning goal.  

Brown capped off the week with 13 draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers in UC's win over the Warriors.  The junior's 14 draw controls are third most in program history for a single game, while her 13 draw controls against Webber also ranks in the top-five.  Brown is second in the NAIA with 71 draw controls this season, which is second most in the NAIA this year. The Fayetteville, GA native also became the program's all-time caused turnover leader with 87.
Cumberlands is 9-1 on the season with four wins over teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top-10 Poll. 

The Patriots return to action Wednesday, March 23, when they open conference play at Thomas More.  Game is set for a 5 p.m. start time with live video available here.

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