STANDISH, Maine – The 2015 GNAC Field Hockey All-Conference teams have been announced and five Saint Joseph's College players have been honored.
Senior defender Meghan Williams (Greenland, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas) is a First Team selection while senior Chelsea Bordeau (Rumford, Maine), junior Kelsey Dumond (Lewiston, Maine), and freshmen Michalia Parent (Westborough, Mass.) and Megan Baker (Gorham, Maine) have all been listed on the Second Team.
Williams, a two-year team captain, claims First Team All-GNAC acclaim for the second-consecutive season after netting four goals with a team-high seven assists for 15 total points during her senior season. She played a variety of roles for the Monks this fall and went 4-5 on penalty stroke attempts with a pair of defensive saves in her final collegiate campaign.
Bordeau, a four-year starter and defensive stalwart, earns All-Conference accolades for the first time in her career after posting a team-high four defensive saves as a senior captain.
Dumond collects Second Team honors for the second-consecutive season after netting a team-high 11 goals with three assists for 25 total points. The junior standout also led the team in shots (88) and shots on goal (67) and potted a pair of game-winning goals this fall.
Parent tallied 10 goals with six assists for 26 total points as a freshman forward. She paced the Monks in points and game-winners (3) and collected GNAC and ECAC DIII New England Rookie of the Week honors on September 14th.
Baker posted a 1.05 goals-against average with four shutouts and an 11-4 record as a freshman keeper. She registered a .754 save percentage with 52 stops and 17 goals allowed in 1,138 minutes between the posts. Baker ranked second in goals-against average and fifth in save percentage as a first-year goalie and earned GNAC Rookie and Goalkeeper of the Week honors on October 26th.
Saint Joseph's posted a 13-7 overall record with a 5-1 mark in GNAC play under the watch of 11th-year Head Coach Rupert Lewis this fall. The Monks earned the #2 seed, and first-round bye, in the conference tournament and topped #3 Anna Maria College, 3-1, in a GNAC quarterfinal on November 4th. With the victory, Saint Joseph's advanced to the GNAC Championship versus top-seeded Simmons College and suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the reigning conference champs on November 7th.
2015 GNAC FIELD HOCKEY ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
GNAC RELEASE:
WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons College sophomores Julie Saltamartini and Maizy Wagner have been voted the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Field Hockey Offensive Player and Defensive Player of the Year, the league office announced on Tuesday morning.
Saltamartini, last year's GNAC Rookie of the Year, ranks second among league leaders with 16 goals (six game-winners) and three assists for 35 points entering NCAA Tournament play, as the regular-season champion Sharks topped Saint Joseph's College of Maine in the GNAC Championship to earn the automatic berth. Simmons will travel to SUNY New Paltz on Wednesday for its NCAA first-round matchup.
Wagner was a key cog on the backline for the Sharks, who allowed just 12 goals in 18 contests, and just five in their six GNAC games.
Lasell College freshman Cailin Flannery was named the GNAC Rookie of the Year, as the Medford, N.J. native led the GNAC in goals (17) and points (45) in her first collegiate season for the Lasers.
Anna Maria College senior Mary Kate Breen was selected as the GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year after the First Team choice ranked second among league leaders in saves (163), second in save percentage (.799) and fifth in goals-against average (2.44).
Anna Maria's Sharon Zenevitch and Lasell's Caitlin Connolly were named the 2015 GNAC Co-Coaches of the Year, as Zenevitch guided the AMCATS to the GNAC Tournament semifinals and Connolly's Lasers went 4-2 in league play after going 2-4 in the conference a year ago.
For the complete list of All-Conference selections, please see below.
Saltamartini and Wagner were two of five Simmons student-athletes selected to the All-GNAC First Team, joining senior Amy Cronin, junior Amy Wilson and senior Alexia Malone Oliver.
In addition to Breen, Anna Maria placed two more on the First Team in senior Kylie Dalbec and sophomore Nicole Denver. Dalbec, the 2014 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year, tied for the league lead in points (45) while Denver was third in the GNAC with 15 goals.
Saint Joseph's College of Maine senior Meghan Williams rounded out the First Team selections, as she helped anchor a backline that allowed a mere four goals throughout six games of GNAC play. Williams also registered four goals and seven assists for 15 points.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
#GOMONKS
Follow Saint Joseph's Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram!
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
