ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Rachel Cooke has been named a second-team All-American by Synapse Sports, while Abby Asuncion and Marcella Sabbagh both secured a spot on the National All-Rookie Team after helping lead the Christopher Newport field hockey squad to a historic 2019 campaign.
 
The award is the first All-American honor in Cooke's career, while Asuncion and Sabbagh are the first Captains to earn a spot on the All-Rookie squad since Courtney Fiest was celebrated in 2017. They are also the first set of teammates to earn the national distinction since Stephanie Bair and Elexa Nosonchuk were both honored as freshmen in 2007.
 
Leading the decorated contingent, Cooke added All-American honors to a growing list of awards. The senior standout was previously celebrated as a first-team All-Conference and All-Region selection. She also competed in the prestigious NFHCA Senior All-Star Game last month.
 
Earning the national recognition, Cooke capped off her career with a dominant senior season. The Vienna, Virginia native started all 19 games and led midfielders with 1,107 minutes of action. A force on the defensive side of the ball, she helped limit the competition to a conference-low .109 shooting percentage while helping the Captains successfully defend 93 percent of the opposition's penalty corner attempts.
 
Equally effective on the other side of the field, she led Christopher Newport with six assists, which also established a new career-high. Cooke dished out a pair of helpers in a conference victory over Mary Washington on October 11 while setting up game-winning strikes against Bridgewater on September 25 and York (Pa.) on October 26.
 
Guided by her efforts as a senior, the four-time All-Conference honoree finished her tenure ranked seventh in school history with 17 assists. Her 73 career starts also place her third on the all-time charts, just two shy of matching the program record.
 
While Cooke was finishing off her career, Asuncion was putting together a dynamite debut campaign. The first-year phenom established a new freshman record with 14 goals while finishing with 29 total points. Additionally, she set a new program standard with seven game-winning strikes, which also marked the most by a freshman at any level of the NCAA in two years.
 
Honored as the CAC Rookie of the Year and a first-team All-Conference and All-Region selection, Asuncion was a consistent force on the offensive side of the ball. She scored in five straight games from October 19 through November 6, which matched the fourth-longest streak in school history. The Sterling, Virginia native also became the fourth true freshman to post a hat-trick after scoring three times against Mary Washington on October 11.
 
Equally effective during her first year in Newport News, Sabbagh made an impact on both sides of the ball. A second-team All-Conference selection, she kicked off her career with an early-season showcase against No. 5 Johns Hopkins when she registered an assist and two defensive saves. For that performance, she became the first freshman field player in NCAA history to earn the NFHCA National Defensive Player of the Week Award.
 
Overall, Sabbagh started all 19 games and finished the year with six defensive saves. That total matched the freshman record established by All-American Brittan Muir in 2015. Also contributing five assists on the offensive side, the Lewes, Delaware native was the only freshman at any level of the NCAA to have at least five assists and five defensive saves during the 2019 campaign.
 
Guided by the three award-winners, Christopher Newport eventually finished the year with a 14-5 record while placing 13th in the final NFHCA National Coaches Poll.
 
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