STANDISH, Maine – The 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse postseason awards have been released and Saint Josephs' College, recently crowned as the GNAC Champion, is well represented with six individuals collecting accolades.
Freshman attack Elyse Caiazzo (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) is the 2015 GNAC Rookie of the Year and Head Coach Rupert Lewis is the Conference Coach of the Year while juniors Mary Leasure (South Portland, Maine/McAuley), Kat Gadbois (Scarborough, Maine) and Meghan Williams (Greenland, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas) have earned First Team All-GNAC honors and senior Lizzie Calnan (Westport, Mass.) and junior Emma Lafrance (Westport, Mass.) have been listed on the Second Team.
Caiazzo collects First Team All-Conference and Rookie of the Year accolades after scoring 67 goals with 19 assists for 86 total points while tallying 63 ground balls, 37 draw controls and 16 caused turnovers during her first collegiate campaign. She broke the Monks' single-season points record when she netted her second of four goals in the GNAC Championship victory over Lasell College on Sunday and ranks as the conference leader in points and goals and is second in shots (125) and shots on goal (108).
Caiazzo, a six-time GNAC Rookie of the Week honoree and three-time ECAC Rookie of the Week selection, is the first player in the eight-year history of the SJC women's lacrosse program to claim GNAC Rookie of the Year honors.
Lewis, who served as the program's inaugural head coach and served in the role for two years (2008-09), returned to the lacrosse sideline this spring, inheriting a team that graduated eight starting seniors and advanced to the GNAC Championship for the first time in team history last season. Lewis, who completed his 10th season at the helm of the SJC Field Hockey program in the fall, brought a fresh outlook to the lacrosse program and his players responded, producing a 17-1 overall record with a perfect 9-0 mark in GNAC play en route to winning the first conference championship in team history.
With Coach Lewis in the fold, the Monks have not lost since falling to University of New England, 15-12, in the season opener on March 1st and carry a team-record 17-game win streak into the NCAA Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 6th. Lewis led the SJC field hockey team to a 14-3 overall record and, with a 6-0 mark in GNAC play, succeeded in not losing a single conference contest while managing both programs.
Leasure claims All-Conference honors for the first time after recording 26 goals, 45 assists, 47 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers as a junior attack. The March 16th GNAC Player of the Week honoree shattered the Monks' single-season assists record and leads the GNAC in assists and ranks fifth in total points.
Gadbois, another first-time All-Conference selection, was an all around contributor for the Monks this spring, with 43 goals, 21 assists 91 ground balls, 41 caused turnovers and 38 draw controls while starting all 18 games as a junior midfielder. She has broken the SJC single-season ground ball and caused turnover records and leads the conference in both statistical categories. The 2015 GNAC Tournament Most Valuable Player also ranks fifth in the GNAC in shots (107), sixth in assists, and seventh in goals and points (64) and has posted career highs across the board this spring.
Williams earns All-GNAC mention for the first time after totaling six goals, two assists, 36 ground balls, 21 draw controls and 18 caused turnovers as one of the Monks' top defenders this season.
Calnan, yet another first-time All-Conference honoree, earns Second Team acclaim after registering 31 goals, 13 assists, 58 ground balls, 40 caused turnovers and 32 draw controls as a senior midfielder. One of just two seniors on the team – Doe Leckie (Naples, Maine) being the other, Calnan heads into the NCAA tourney having scored 62 goals with 22 assists, 170 ground balls, 108 draw controls and 104 caused turnovers over three collegiate seasons and currently ranks as the Monks' all-time leader in caused turnovers.
Lafrance earns Second Team All-GNAC accolades for the second-consecutive season after playing a major role for the top defense in the conference. The junior defender tallied 42 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers while starting all 18 contests this spring.
Saint Joseph's earned the top seed in the 2015 GNAC Tournament and opened postseason play with a 21-5 quarterfinal victory over #8 Rivier University on April 22nd. The Monks defeated #4 Emmanuel College in a rematch of the 2014 conference championship, 15-8, on April 24th and earned the first GNAC title in program history with an impressive 10-3 victory over #2 Lasell College on April 26th.
The Lasers' scoring tally versus the Monks counts as the fewest goals allowed in a GNAC Championship for women's lacrosse, a sport the conference began sponsoring in the spring of 2008. The 2015 NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse Tournament bracket will be announced on Monday, May 4th.
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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.
