INDIANAPOLIS – Malen Iglesias has been chosen by a national committee to advance to the national stage of the NCAA Woman of the Year selection process. Iglesias was the Northeast Conference (NEC) Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Fairfield University Field Hockey during the 2021 NEC Championship season.
 
As an associate member of the NEC, Iglesias was ineligible for consideration by the NEC. She was instead entered into a pool of other associate member/independent student-athletes for consideration by a national committee. Iglesias was the lone Division I student-athlete from the independent/associate category chosen to join the roster of 151 conference nominees spanning Division I, II and III.
 
Iglesias had a hallmark season in the fall of 2021 to close out her tenure with Fairfield Field Hockey. In addition to being named both the NEC Player of the Year and Fall Scholar-Athlete of the Year, she was an NFHCA All-Mideast Region First Team pick after guiding the Stags through an unbeaten NEC regular season and tournament to claim the program's second NEC Championship in three years.
 
Iglesias scored the last of her team-leading 11 goals with just four seconds left in regulation of Fairfield's NCAA Championship First Round clash at #17 Delaware to send the contest into overtime. Iglesias, who scored twice against the Blue Hens on the national stage, also dished out a pair of assists in 2021 to finish with a team-best 24 points.
 
Academically, Iglesias is a member of the NFHCA National Academic Honor Squad and the NEC Academic Honor Roll. She graduated summa cum laude from Fairfield in May of 2022 with a 3.9 cumulative GPA as a Management major in the Dolan School of Business.
 
Iglesias joins Rachel Hakes of Fairfield Women's Basketball, who was selected by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to advance in the Woman of the Year process. A total of 10 student-athletes apiece from Division I, Division II and Division III will be unveiled in October, with the three finalists from each division released in November. The 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the NCAA Convention in January.