Goromonzi, Mushavi bask in glory as Players of the Week

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
TWO United States-based Zimbabwean women’s field hockey players Rachel Goromonzi and Rufaro Mushavi buried themselves in glory on Monday when they “scored a double” and were named as the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week.

They helped their university team Limestone College to clinch the inaugural Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II championship at the weekend.

First to be saluted by the ECAC in the United States on Monday was Goromonzi who was named Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three goals for Limestone College in their Division II two matches against Bellarmine and Lindenwood.

Goromonzi picked up the ECAC Offensive Player of the Week award after she was once again the catalyst for Limestone this past week, scoring three more goals to up her league-leading total to 16 on the season.

The 22-year-old Zimbabwean, who is now a Senior student at Limestone College, first scored the game-winning goal in the 68th minute of a 2-1 victory over Bellarmine, and then knocked in both goals in a 2-0 win over Lindenwood.

Goromonzi is also tied for the league lead in assists with nine.

Her teammate at Limestone College, Mushavi, was named as the ECAC Defensive Player of the Week.

She led the defence to concede just one goal over two games and anchored a Saints defence that kept Limestone in the game, before the offense was able to score two late goals to down Bellarmine 2-1 on Friday. En-route to staying undefeated in the ECAC, the Saints defeated Bellarmine 2-1 on Friday and then took down Lindenwood 2-0 on Sunday.

Against the Knights, Goromonzi netted the game-winning goal in the 68th minute as Limestone rallied from a 1-0 second half deficit.

Goromonzi continued her stellar week, scoring both goals for Limestone, her league-leading 15th and 16th tallies of the season.

With still one more conference game left on the docket, the Saints have locked up the number one seed in the ECAC Conference Tournament on November 14-16 in Gaffney.

This year’s ECAC Division II women’s field hockey season was illuminated by Goromonzi who was just a marvel to watch when leading the Limestone College frontline.

Goromonzi’s 16-goal tally this season came after she banged in 24 goals in the previous season.