WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth redshirt freshman Ken Amsel (Demarest, N.J./Northern Valley Regional) was named Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week for his performance against Duquesne in Monmouth's last game of the season.

Amsel, a cornerback, has played solid for the Hawks after filling in for injured starting cornerback Brian Robinson a few weeks ago.  With the Blue & White holding onto an eight point lead early in the third quarter, Amsel picked off quarterback Kevin Romback on first down and returned the ball 32 yards, to give his team a 28-13 advantage.  It was his first career interception and first career touchdown for the Hawks.  The redshirt freshman finished with four tackles, three of which were solo takedowns and a pass breakup. 

Amsel was part of a defense that held Duquesne preseason All-American wide receiver Bruce Hocker to 43 yards on six catches.  Monmouth's defense held the Dukes to 310 total yards of offense, including 84 yards rushing, over 100 yards less than Duquesne came into the contest averaging.   Duquesne's offense has averaged 27.7 points this year behind quarterback Kevin Romback, who threw just four interceptions coming into the game against the Hawks (who forced him to throw two picks in the game).

Amsel joins David Sinisi (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) and Bobby Giles (Burlington, N.J./Burlington) as the only Hawks to earn conference weekly awards in 2007.