STANDISH, ME – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) has announced that three Saint Joseph's College women's soccer players have earned All-GNAC accolades and first-year Head Coach Jenelle Harris has been selected as the GNAC Women's Soccer Coach of the Year.
Senior midfielder Lauren Chouinard (Gorham, Maine) and sophomore defender Leanne Comeau (Watertown, Mass.) have collected Second Team honors and senior midfielder Jessica Capozzi (Saugus, Mass.) is listed on the Third Team. The All-Conference accolade is a career-first for all three players.
Coach Harris led the Monks to one of the finest seasons in program history as a first-year clipboard carrier, as the SJC side went 15-3-1 overall and 9-2-0 in GNAC play under her guidance this fall. The conference record was good for the #3 seed in the GNAC Tournament, allowing the Royal Blue to host a postseason contest for the first time since 2009. The season win total and subsequent winning percentage both rank second in the 26-year history of the SJC women's soccer program.
With the well-deserved award, Harris becomes the first rookie head coach at Saint Joseph's to garner Coach of the Year honors since men's soccer skipper Jim Mingo earned Northeast and District coaching acclaim in 1990. She is also the first SJC women's soccer leader to earn the top-coach billing since David Roussel collected Maine Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1998 and 1999.
Chouinard earns Second Team All-GNAC mention after registering five goals and two assists for 12 total points along with team-highs in shots (46), shots on goal (27) and game-winning goals (4) as a senior. The Monks' primary playmaker in the midfield, Chouinard was one of four SJC players to start all 19 matches and rarely left the pitch during her senior campaign.
Comeau, who did not see the field as a freshman, emerged as one of the team's top defensive players during preseason and continued the high level of play throughout the 2013 season. Typically assigned to the opponent's top offensive player, Comeau anchored a Monks' defense, which allowed just 16 goals all year, with her speed, decision-making and toughness as a sophomore.
Capozzi collects All-Conference honors for the first time after registering four goals, including a pair of game-clinchers, as a senior midfielder. The two-year team captain proved to be a composed and technically-sound player in the heart of the pitch for the Monks during her four years. Statistics certainly do not show all that Capozzi brought to the field everyday and the All-Conference nod is overdue for this four-year contributor.
Along with the All-Conference honors, the GNAC also awards those who best represent the pillars of sportsmanship. Each season, every team is asked to select a player for their squad to represent the program on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team and this fall, the Monks have selected senior Kelsea Marchand (Boscawen, N.H.) to stand for the SJC women's soccer team.
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 430-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.
