BOSTON ? University at Albany’s Michelle Simpson (Middlesbrough,England/University of Teesside) and Arlette Westdorp (Assen, Netherlands/Dr. Nassau College) were named America East Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively at the conference’s annual awards banquet on Thursday night. Boston University’s Suus Dekker (Rotterdam, Holland/Insula College (Thuredrecht)) also earned Rookie of the Year accolades, while Vermont head coach Nicki Houghton took home Coach of the Year honoros. All voting was conducting by the conference’s coaches.
Simpson, a junior at Albany, leads the league in game-winning goals (4) and is third in the league in points (35) and goals (14). Starting all 18 games for the Great Danes, Simpson leads the team with 14 goals.
Westdorp, a sophomore at Albany, earns Defensive Player of the Year and first-team honors in 2006 after being named Rookie of the Year and a second -team selection in 2005. She leads the league and her team in assists with 19.
Dekker, a freshman for Boston University, is the third-straight Terrier to be named the conference’s top rookie. Having started 17 of 18 games for Boston University this season, she is second on the team with six goals.
Houghton, in her ninth year in charge of the Catamounts, takes home the Coach of the year award. She led her team to an 11-7 regular-season record, 3-2 in America East, good for a third-place finish going into the conference championship.
Simpson, Westdorp and Dekker are joined on the first team by freshman defender Jessica Lindsey (Norristown, Pa./Methacton) and sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) from Albany, junior forward Sarah Shute (Lincolnville, Maine/Somers (N.Y.)) and junior midfielder Pam Spuehler (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) from Boston University, Maine’s junior midfielder Amy Zdrojesky (East Greenville, Pa./Upper Perkiomen), New Hampshire’s senior forward Emily Colton (Milton, Mass./Thayer Academy) and junior forward Danielle Collins (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) and sophomore forward Maegen Luce (Hartford, Vt./Hartford) from Vermont.
Collins leads America East in shots (81), points (45), and goals (18). Colton follows Collins with 68 shots, while Vermont’s Luce is second in points (42) and goals (17). Shute and Simpson lead the league with four game-winning goals, while Ross is second in shutouts (5) and goals against average (1.47). Westdorp and Lindsey are at the top of the conference in assists with 19 and 14, respectively.
The all-conference second team includes freshman midfielderTeska Koch (Hilversum, Netherlands/’t Sint Vitus College, Bussum) and sophomore back Michele Polizois (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) from Albany, junior back Laura Dean (Bear, Del./William Penn) and sophomore midfielder Holly Wiles (Harare, Zimbabwe/Arundel School) from Boston University, senior midfielder Katie Flaherty (Winslow, Maine/Winslow), junior goalkeeper Rebecca Giroux (Augusta, Maine/Cony) and senior midfielder Regina Legge (North Harwich, Mass./Harwich) of Maine, UMBC’s senior forward Kristi Troster (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn), New Hampshire’s junior back Samantha Geary (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) and Vermont’s forwards junior Kate Lipton (Newton, Mass./Newton North) and sophomore Kim Striegler (Whitney Point, N.Y./Whitney Point).
Polizois and Koch are seventh and eighth in America East points, respectivley. Legge is third in the league with defensive saves (3), while Dean is tied for fifth (2). Giroux leads the league in save percentage with .768 and is second with 86 saves. Striegler is third in the conference wiht 66 shots, and is tied at fifth with Lipton for assists (7).
Koch, Lindsey, and Drekker are joined on the all-rookie team by midfielder Nicole Savage (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin) of Albany, midfielder Haley Robinson (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School) of Boston, Maine’s forward Jackie D’Amato (Upton, Mass./Nipmuc) and defender Mallory Shute (Norridgwock, Maine/Skowhegan), UMBC’s forward Mary Strain (Port Republic, Md./Patuxent), New Hampshire’s forward Megan Shea (Melrose, Mass./Melrose), and Vermont’s goalkeeper Kristen Heavens (Harwington, Conn./Lewis Mills) and midfielder Sarah Meacham North (Hartland, Vt./Hartford).
Ten of the first-team selections and nine of the second-team selections will be in action this Friday at the America East Field Hockey Championship at Jack Barry Field in Cambridge, Mass. No. 1 Boston plays host to No. 4 Vermont at 12 noon. No. 3 Maine meets No. 2 Albany at 2:30 p.m. The championship game will be held at Barry Field, Sunday at 1 p.m.