Wake Forest Athletics
Kozniuk’s Competitive Drive Fuels Hall of Fame Career at Wake Forest
4/30/2026 10:41:00 AM | Field Hockey
From North Vancouver to ACC stardom, Anna Kozniuk’s relentless pursuit of excellence shaped one of the most decorated careers in program history.
Anna Kozniuk grew up in North Vancouver in what she described as "a very ice hockey family." Whatever sport her older siblings played, she played. Whatever they achieved, she needed to match. When her sister Emily earned a scholarship to Boston College for field hockey, Kozniuk had her blueprint.
"Whatever they did, I needed to do, and I needed to do it just as well as them," Kozniuk said at the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony earlier this year. "So when my sister earned a scholarship to Boston College for field hockey, that immediately was my goal."
The goal she set for herself eventually led her to Winston-Salem, where she became one of the most decorated players in Wake Forest field hockey history. At the induction ceremony, Kozniuk was recognized as the 14th player in Atlantic Coast Conference field hockey history to earn four career All-America honors and just the 12th in conference history to earn four consecutive All-ACC first-team selections. She was the 2014 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, the 2014 ACC Tournament MVP and the 2011 ACC Rookie of the Year. She also collected four All-South Region first-team honors.
The numbers back it up. As a senior, she led the team with 16 goals and six assists for 38 points. As a junior, she was second on the team with nine goals and six assists. Her sophomore leap was particularly striking, five goals, nine assists and 19 points, leading the Demon Deacons in assists and finishing second in points. As a true freshman in 2011, she started 18 of 19 games and was named ACC Rookie of the Year.
But the road to Wake Forest included a detour. A Canadian national team player, Kozniuk took a gap year between high school and college to compete in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India, a decision that could have complicated her college recruitment but did not, largely because of head coach Jennifer Averill.
"Go live your dream," Averill told her. "Go travel and experience the world. You'll come back a different person with maybe even a different view of what you want to study at Wake Forest."
That relationship between coach and player became the emotional center of Kozniuk's remarks at the ceremony. She acknowledged her parents, her siblings, her teammates and multiple members of the Wake Forest athletics administration, but when she turned to Averill, the words carried extra weight.
"There truly aren't enough words that I can express how much you've meant to me," Kozniuk said. "One of the hardest parts of leaving Wake Forest was no longer having the privilege of spending time with you every day. Your passion, your energy and your ability to bring out the best in people is a gift. You shaped me not only as a player but as a person, and you believed in me sometimes even more than I believed in myself."
She also spoke about something that gives the program its foundation and identity, the legacy of Maria Whitehead, a former Wake Forest player who died of stage 4 melanoma and whose memory Averill has built the culture of the program.
"Our time at Wake is finite," Kozniuk said. "But the impact that Jen has had on all of us has taught us that beyond our academic and athletic careers, there has been no better role model for humility and integrity. Because of her, those values have lived in us every single day."
The athletic peak of Kozniuk's four years came in her junior season, when the Demon Deacons won the ACC championship with a 2-0 victory over Syracuse. Kozniuk's drag flick on penalty corners had become a weapon she spent the previous summer developing on campus, and she delivered twice in the tournament. It was the program's first conference title since 2006.
"Everything just clicked," she said. "We were a pretty young team my sophomore year with a big incoming class. I always look at that ACC Tournament, because every play we'd worked on the previous two years just clicked. It was a really special experience to be a part of that."
The championship came with her senior season still ahead, and Kozniuk made the most of it, finishing as the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and tournament MVP before departing Winston-Salem with a degree in communication and entrepreneurship, a minor in global enterprise and, eventually, a master's degree in sports management earned in Ireland.
She now works as a product manager for a sports clothing company in Vancouver, the same city where she grew up chasing her older siblings around a basement, turning a childhood competitive streak into one of the ACC's most decorated field hockey careers.
"I arrived at Wake Forest wanting to earn a role in this program and continue the legacy that already had a proven history," Kozniuk said at the ceremony. "I left with far more than I ever could have asked for."
"Whatever they did, I needed to do, and I needed to do it just as well as them," Kozniuk said at the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony earlier this year. "So when my sister earned a scholarship to Boston College for field hockey, that immediately was my goal."
The goal she set for herself eventually led her to Winston-Salem, where she became one of the most decorated players in Wake Forest field hockey history. At the induction ceremony, Kozniuk was recognized as the 14th player in Atlantic Coast Conference field hockey history to earn four career All-America honors and just the 12th in conference history to earn four consecutive All-ACC first-team selections. She was the 2014 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, the 2014 ACC Tournament MVP and the 2011 ACC Rookie of the Year. She also collected four All-South Region first-team honors.
The numbers back it up. As a senior, she led the team with 16 goals and six assists for 38 points. As a junior, she was second on the team with nine goals and six assists. Her sophomore leap was particularly striking, five goals, nine assists and 19 points, leading the Demon Deacons in assists and finishing second in points. As a true freshman in 2011, she started 18 of 19 games and was named ACC Rookie of the Year.
But the road to Wake Forest included a detour. A Canadian national team player, Kozniuk took a gap year between high school and college to compete in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India, a decision that could have complicated her college recruitment but did not, largely because of head coach Jennifer Averill.
"Go live your dream," Averill told her. "Go travel and experience the world. You'll come back a different person with maybe even a different view of what you want to study at Wake Forest."
That relationship between coach and player became the emotional center of Kozniuk's remarks at the ceremony. She acknowledged her parents, her siblings, her teammates and multiple members of the Wake Forest athletics administration, but when she turned to Averill, the words carried extra weight.
"There truly aren't enough words that I can express how much you've meant to me," Kozniuk said. "One of the hardest parts of leaving Wake Forest was no longer having the privilege of spending time with you every day. Your passion, your energy and your ability to bring out the best in people is a gift. You shaped me not only as a player but as a person, and you believed in me sometimes even more than I believed in myself."
She also spoke about something that gives the program its foundation and identity, the legacy of Maria Whitehead, a former Wake Forest player who died of stage 4 melanoma and whose memory Averill has built the culture of the program.
"Our time at Wake is finite," Kozniuk said. "But the impact that Jen has had on all of us has taught us that beyond our academic and athletic careers, there has been no better role model for humility and integrity. Because of her, those values have lived in us every single day."
The athletic peak of Kozniuk's four years came in her junior season, when the Demon Deacons won the ACC championship with a 2-0 victory over Syracuse. Kozniuk's drag flick on penalty corners had become a weapon she spent the previous summer developing on campus, and she delivered twice in the tournament. It was the program's first conference title since 2006.
"Everything just clicked," she said. "We were a pretty young team my sophomore year with a big incoming class. I always look at that ACC Tournament, because every play we'd worked on the previous two years just clicked. It was a really special experience to be a part of that."
The championship came with her senior season still ahead, and Kozniuk made the most of it, finishing as the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and tournament MVP before departing Winston-Salem with a degree in communication and entrepreneurship, a minor in global enterprise and, eventually, a master's degree in sports management earned in Ireland.
She now works as a product manager for a sports clothing company in Vancouver, the same city where she grew up chasing her older siblings around a basement, turning a childhood competitive streak into one of the ACC's most decorated field hockey careers.
"I arrived at Wake Forest wanting to earn a role in this program and continue the legacy that already had a proven history," Kozniuk said at the ceremony. "I left with far more than I ever could have asked for."
Spring Camp Media Availability (4/16/26) | Wake Forest Football
Wednesday, April 22
Spring Camp Media Availability (4/22/26) | Wake Forest Football
Wednesday, April 22
Spring Fan Fest Media Availability (4/18/26) | Wake Forest Football
Saturday, April 18
Spring Camp Media Availability (4/14/26) | Wake Forest Football
Tuesday, April 14