Boston University took four of the top five honors in America East women’s soccer in voting conducted by the conference’s head coaches. Sophomore forward Melissa Shulman was named America East Offensive Player of the Year, sophomore back Brittany McDonald was named Defensive Player of the Year, senior Jessica Clinton was selected as Goalkeeper of the Year and Nancy Feldman was chosen as the Coach of the Year. Northeastern University freshman forward Kristin Kowalik was named Rookie of the Year. The all-conference awards were announced Thursday (November 5).
Shulman has scored 11 goals and added five assists for 27 points for the 11-5-4 Terriers. She has four game-winning goals for the regular-season champions.
McDonald anchored a defense that has posted seven shutouts this season and is second in America East with a 0.93 goals against average. McDonald and the Terrier defense only allowed 94 shots on goal over 20 games during the season.
Clinton has a .785 save percentage to lead all America East goalkeepers. She has also compiled a 0.94 goals against average and is credited with six of Boston University’s seven shutouts to date.
Kowalik led the conference in goals and points per game for most of the season and is presently second in both categories, averaging 0.61 goals per game and 1.39 points per game. She has chalked up 25 points with 11 goals and three assists.
Feldman guided her team to an 11-5-4 mark with a 7-1-1 America East record and enters the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the conference championship. The Terriers are making their fifth postseason appearance in her tenure, including conference championships in 2000 and 2001.
Senior Annie Hamel of University of Maine and junior Chiara Best of University of New Hampshire join Shulman at forward on the all-conference first team. Hamel leads America East with nine assists and is ranked No. 18 in the nation for assists per game (0.56). Best has scored 10 goals and added five assists for 25 points.
The first-team midfielders are sophomore Brooke Bingham of Boston University, senior Jeanette Akerlund of University of Hartford, senior Katie Hodge of Maine and junior Liz Dyjak of Northeastern. Bingham is tied for the Terrier team lead with five assists. Akerlund is third on the Hawks with 10 points on four goals and two assists. Hodge is third in the conference with 0.56 goals per game and is also averaging 1.12 points per game. She has scored nine goals. Dyjak has averaged 1.22 points per game and is second in the conference with six assists.
McDonald is joined by first-team backs Cindy Walsh of Hartford and Allison Kelly of Maine. Walsh, a senior for the Hawks, helped secure five shutouts against conference opponents in the regular season. Kelly was a crucial part of a Black Bear defense that leads America East with nine shutouts and has the lowest goals against average at 0.73.
Clinton is the first-team goalkeeper.
Tracy Kasmarcik or Binghamton University, Meghan Cook of Boston University and Kowalik are the second team forwards. The second team midfielders are Sara Rickard of University at Albany, Susan Marschall of Boston University, Jen Buckley of Maine, Ana Tobon of New Hampshire and Danielle Lewis of Stony Brook University. Linda Consolante of Maine, Mary Hearin of University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Debbie Newman of New Hampshire and Katie Brennan of University of Vermont make up the backs. UMBC’s Robin Babaris is the second-team goalkeeper.
The all-rookie team, which was chosen regardless of position, includes Danielle White of Binghamton, Boston University’s Lauren Erwin and Erica Lee, Jen Hirsch and Susanne Nilsson of Hartford, Hearin and Amanda DiCarlo of UMBC, Hillary Mefferd of New Hampshire, Kowalik of Northeastern, Joy Gueverra of Stony Brook and Amy Cochran of Vermont.
The list of honorable mentions consists of Tatiana Mathelier of Binghamton, Emily Dionne of Boston University, Hilde Bakke of Hartford, Heather Hathorn of Maine, Carolynn Patton of UMBC, Jackie Wishoski of New Hampshire, Andi Matthews of Northeastern, Victoria Feliciano of Stony Brook and Sara Jablonski of Vermont.
All eleven of the first-team players and nine of the second-team players are involved in the conference postseason. In the first round of the America East Championship, No. 3 Maine defeated No. 6 UMBC 3-1 and No. 4 New Hampshire was victorious over No. 5 Northeastern 7-2. The semifinals will be held Friday at Nickerson Field on the Boston University campus with Maine taking on No. 2 Hartford at 3 p.m. and New Hampshire playing No. 1 Boston University at 6 p.m. The championship game will be held Sunday (November 9) at 1 p.m. at Nickerson Field, with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.