STANDISH, Maine – The 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Soccer All-Conference honors have been released and a pair of Saint Joseph's College players have earned accolades.
Freshman forward Haley DaGraca (Saco, Maine) has collected First Team All-GNAC honors while senior defender Whitney White (Salem, N.H.) is a Third Team selection.
DaGraca, who earned GNAC and ECAC Rookie of the Week honors on September 21st, led the Monks in goals (12), total points (27), shots (74) and game-winning goals as a freshman. She ranked third in the conference in goals and points and fourth in game-clinchers this fall. Her goal tally is the fifth-most ever scored by a Saint Joseph's freshman while her point total is the seventh highest netted by a first-year player in team history.
Megan Willette owns both rookie records for the Monks, as she tallied 25 goals and 60 total points as a freshman in 2005.
White claims her first All-Conference nod after posting a goal with a pair of assists while anchoring a backline that posted four shutouts and yielded 1.79 goals per game. She played in 62 matches during her career, amassing two goals and five points for nine total points as a four-year contributor.
Saint Joseph's (9-10-0, 6-5-0 GNAC) closed out the 2015 season with an overtime loss in a GNAC Tournament Quarterfinal at #2 Johnson & Wales University on October 31st. The seventh-seeded Monks trailed 2-0 late, but managed to score twice in the closing eight minutes to knot the game and force extra play, the Wildcats netted the winner 6:03 into OT to advance in the tourney and effectively end the Monks' 2015 campaign.
2015 ALL-GNAC WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAMS
GNAC RELEASE:
WINTHROP, Mass. – Lasell College junior Megan Cullenforward has been named the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year, as voted upon by the league's 12 head coaches.
Cullen helped lead the Lasers to their sixth straight GNAC Championship this past weekend, and enters NCAA Tournament play with 19 goals and 38 points, both of which are tops among conference leaders.
The University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) earned a pair of major awards, as Blue Jays senior back Lindsey Cifaldi was named GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and senior Melissa Dodge was selected as the GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year.
Neither Cifaldi or Dodge missed a minute of action for USJ this fall, as Cifaldi anchored a Blue Jays backline that allowed just 18 goals in 19 games and Dodge finished fourth in the GNAC in saves (123), first in save percentage (.872) and third in goals-against average (0.97).
From Johnson & Wales University, freshman midfielder Deja Hursey was voted the GNAC Rookie of the Year, while Wildcats head coach Chris Flint was voted the GNAC Coach of the Year by his peers following his first season in the conference.
Hursey, a First Team member along with Cullen, Cifaldi and Dodge, registered nine goals and an assist for 19 points, while Flint, the former Bryant University head coach, led JWU to a second-place finish in the GNAC standings and a GNAC Tournament semifinal appearance.
Joining Hursey on the First Team from JWU was sophomore forward Kyra Selner, who finished second only to Cullen among GNAC leaders in both goals (13) and points (34).
Joining Cullen on the First Team from Lasell was junior midfielder Devon Day, who has registered five goals and five assists for the Lasers this fall.
Also receiving First Team recognition was Saint Joseph's College of Maine freshman Haley DaGraca, Emmanuel College junior Maggie Carey and senior Ari Cardillo, and Simmons College seniors Ali Berkman and Issy Verilli.
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.
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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.
