BALTIMORE ? Boston University's Jenny Hauser (Player of the Year), Stony Brook's Kaitlin Leggio (Rookie of the Year) and UMBC's Courtney Martinez Connor (Coach of the Year) took home the hardware as America East's three major yearly award winners at the conference's annual awards banquet on Thursday evening. All voting was conducted by the head coaches at the America East institutions.
Complete All-Conference Team Breakdown (PDF)
Hauser, the 2005 America East Rookie of the Year, becomes just the third sophomore in conference history to earn Player of the Year accolades and is also just the third player to ever win both the Rookie and Player of the Year honors in a career. Hauser leads the Terriers with 89 points on 62 goals and 27 assists. Her 62 goals places her third in the nation for goals per game with 3.65 and she has captured the top spot in the Terrier record books for goals in a season and points in a season. Hauser has been instrumental in the Terriers having been ranked in the top-10 nationally all season long, entering the postseason ranked ninth.
The first Seawolf to win the America East Rookie of the Year award, Leggio started all 17 games for Stony Brook and is tied for the team lead with 46 goals, good for the single season record. The freshman also leads the Seawolves in ground balls with 46.
In her first year at the helm of the Retrievers, Connor has led the squad to a 10-7 (5-1 America East) record and a the program's first regular-season title. Connor is a 2001 graduate of Maryland, where she won five national championships and was named the MVP of 2001 NCAA Tournament.
Joining Hauser and Leggio on the all-conference first team are attackers Mary Beth Miller (Boston U.), Ali Levendusky (UMBC) and Katie Leland (New Hampshire), midfielders Kate Fontana (Albany), Lindsey Lewis (Boston U.), Kelly Fiorani (UMBC), Kristin Blanchette (New Hampshire) and Danielle Werner (Stony Brook), defenders Katelyn Primomo (Albany), Danica Strutt (Boston U.), Julie Libertini (UMBC) and Christine Carbone (New Hampshire) and goalkeeper Jen Daly (Albany).
Miller leads the Terriers in assists with 2.53 apg and also ranks third in the nation for assists per game. Levendusky paces UMBC in goals with 40 and points with 52. Leland is tied for second in the league for goals with 47. Fontana leads America East in ground balls per game with 78. Daly has the top save percentage in the conference (.531) and has recorded 163 saves this season.
The second team is composed of attackers Sarah Spillett (Albany), Jen Kasper (UMBC), Moira Talbot (New Hampshire) and Amy Taylor (Stony Brook), midfielders Lauren Wetherell (Binghamton), Kelly Fahey (UMBC), Sarah Von Bargen (New Hampshire) and Kristen Millar (Vermont), defenders Molly Collins (Boston U.), Keely Anderson (Boston U.), Bailley Mazur (New Hampshire) and Jenna Spenard (Stony Brook) and goalkeeper Jenna Golden (Boston U.).
Taylor is the leading point getter for Stony Brook with 60 points. Von Bargen is the second-leading scorer for the Wildcats with 41 goals, good for seventh in America East. Millar ranks second in conference standings for ground balls per game with a 4.07 average, while Golden has started all 17 games for the Terriers and has recorded 118 saves.
Von Bargen, Leggio, Spenard and Millar are joined on the all-rookie team by Julie Bush (Albany), Sarah Dalton (Boston U.), Kara Dorr (UMBC), Susie Sweeney (UMBC), Ashley Dureopo (New Hampshire) and Jennifer Maher (Vermont).
Several of the all-conference award winners will be in action this weekend at the America East Women's Lacrosse Championship on May 5 and 7 at the UMBC Stadium Complex in Baltimore, Md. The semifinals get underway on Friday, May 5 as top-seeded UMBC faces off against No. 4 New Hampshire at 11 a.m., followed by No. 2 Boston U. against No. 3 Stony Brook at 2 p.m. The winners of these two semifinal games will meet on Sunday, May 7 at 3:30 p.m.
Tickets will be available at the UMBC Lacrosse Ticket Booth on game day, beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday.