In her first year as a college athlete, Dorrien Van Dyke, a midfielder on the Stony Brook Women’s Lacrosse team, has risen to the top of the ranks.
Van Dyke was the only freshman in the conference to be named to the All-Conference First Team, on top of being selected as the America East Rookie of the Year. Van Dyke has previously been named Rookie of the Week by America East and WomensLax.com.
Head Coach Joe Spallina is also quick to applaud Van Dyke, saying, “I think she is a special athlete, so her success is no surprise to me,” adding that “she’s unflappable, she has shown her ability not to fold under pressure.”
After spending much of the year as the leading goal-scorer in the country for freshmen, however, she ran into an obstacle.
Opponents took notice of her skill, and suffocating defense against her made it hard to keep up the goals. So as the season has gone on, she has begun to focus more on assists.
“I’m looking at my teammates more,” Van Dyke said, “because I know if I can’t get the ball in the net, they’re going to.”
Van Dyke has the second-most goals on the team and second-most in the country for freshmen with 49, right behind fellow freshman and teammate Courtney Murphy. She finished the pre-NCAA Tournament season in the lead on the team in the points category, adding 16 assists to her 65-point total.
“I try to go into every game with an open mind,” Van Dyke said. “The last couple games I haven’t been scoring. I was frustrated, but when I think about it, I just have to play my game and I’ll start scoring again.”
Van Dyke is from Northport and has played lacrosse since fourth grade. At Northport High School, she played lacrosse, earning four letters, and basketball, earning three letters. Van Dyke became co-captain of the girl’s basketball team in senior year, and as a player on the lacrosse team, she won several accolades and honoree awards as an upperclassman. She received the Athletic Director’s award and was on the honor roll.
Van Dyke’s goals for this season are to win the America East championship and get as far as possible in the NCAA. She is currently undecided on her major, but is thinking about health sciences. She decided to come to Stony Brook for the chance to win a national championship and to be coached by Joe Spallina.
“I think Dorrien is going to be a dominant player in Division I lacrosse for the entire time that she is here,” said coach Spallina. “She has answered the call and will continue to do so.”
The team heads upstate to Syracuse for their first and second round games in the NCAA Tournament, playing Towson on Friday for the right to play the second-seeded Syracuse Orange on Sunday.
Andrew Eichenholz contributed to this report
