ALBANY, N.Y. — University at Albany, the 2014 America East regular-season field hockey champion, garnered four of the conference’s six major award as the league’s top honors and all-conference teams were announced at a banquet on Albany’s campus Wednesday evening. Fairfield University earned the other two major honors, their first-ever year-end trophies. The award winners and all-conference teams were determined in a vote by the league’s head coaches who could not vote for their own team.The Great Danes’ Paula Heuser was tabbed America East’s Midfielder of the Year for the second-consecutive season, while teammate Maxi Primus took home Goalkeeper of the Year honors and Anna Bottino was named Rookie of Year. The trio’s coaches were, led by head coach Phil Sykes, were named Coaching Staff of Year. For Fairfield, Ann Burgoyne garnered Offensive Player of the Year honors and Felicitas Heinen was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year.Heuser, a sophomore midfielder, became the league’s first-ever repeat selection as Midfielder of the Year as she has been the catalyst for an Albany team that’s one of the nation’s best. Also, a first-team all-conference choice for the second-straight year, Heuser leads the nation averaging 3.3 points per game. Her 59 points (25 G, 9 A) set a new Albany program record and ranks sixth-best in America East all time. Heuser was a five-time America East Player of the Week this season.Primus, a sophomore goalkeeper, is the fourth Great Dane to win the award in the last five years. The last line of defense for an Albany team that ranks second in the country in team goals against average (0.78), Primus ranks third individually nationally in that category, registering a 0.79 GAA. She registered eight shutouts in 18 games this year. A four-time America East Defensive Player of the Week, Primus is also the conference’s first-team all-conference keeper. Bottino, a freshman midfielder, is the third-straight Great Dane to win Rookie of the Year honors following Heuser and first-team all-leaguer Laura Page. Also a second-team all-conference standout, Bottino earned America East Rookie of the Week honors just once this season. But her play was steady throughout the year as she finished the regular season as the league’s top rookie scorer averaging 1.2 points per game. That total ranks eighth in the league overall.Behind its first America East regular-season title in five years, Albany’s coaching staff is being honored for the third time after Phil Sykes was named Coach of the Year in 2008 and ‘09. In his 11th year at Albany, Sykes and his staff led the Great Danes to arguably their best season in program history as the 14th-ranked Great Danes are 16-2 overall and have won 10 games in a row. Dangerous on both ends of the field, the Great Danes rank fifth nationally in scoring average and second in GAA.Burgoyne, a sophomore forward, is Fairfield’s first-ever Offensive Player of the Year. A four-time America East Player of the Week this season, her 19 goals rank second in the league and her 1.06 goals per game are sixth-best in the country. Eight of those scores came in the league play, the most in the league. Burgoyne is also a first-team All-America East choice. Heinen, a senior back, is the Stags’ first Defensive Player of the Year. A three-time first-team All-America East choice, she anchored the Stags, who are making their third-straight America East Championship appearance. She helped hold Albany two just two goals, their second-lowest output of the season in their meeting on Oct. 18. Heinen also contributed offensively, tallying 19 points. Heuser, Burgoyne, Heinen, Primus and Page are joined as first-team all-conference selections by Albany’s Fiori Van Rijswijk, Maine’s Annabelle Hamilton and Holly Stewart, UMass Lowell’s Sophie Watt and New Hampshire’s Kellie Joyce and Chandler Giese. Bottino is joined on the all-conference second team by Albany’s Pahila Arnold and Amy Nickin, Faifield’s Jule de Paeuw, Maine’s Danielle Aviani and Nicole Sevey, UMass Lowell’s Bianca Jones, New Hampshire’s Lindsey Nerbonne, Aggie Sutherland and Carlie Tarbell and Vermont’s Molly Higgins and Ashley McDonald. Bottino and Arnold are also all-rookie honorees along with Albany’s Kelsey Briddell, Fairfield’s Jaclyn Gallagher and Bridget Miles, Maine’s Emma Cochran, UMass Lowell’s Kelsey Federico, New Hampshire’s Gianna Bensaia and Ashley Mendonca and Vermont’s Lena Benwood and Taylor Gaines.Six all-conference choices are also all-academic honorees including Heuser, Primus, Van Rijswijk, Burgoyne, Heinen and Hamilton. Heinen, Stewart and Van Rijswijk are also repeat selections and are joined in that group by Fairfield’s Val Buurma, Maine’s Becca Paradee and UMass Lowell’s Andrea Byrne. Albany’s Molly Mariano, Maine’s Zoe Berkey and New Hampshire’s Meg Carroll round out the selections. To be eligible for all-academic, student-athletes must have sophomore athletic eligibility, attain a 3.30 minimum grade-point average and be a significant contributor athletically. The team is voted on by a committee made up of America East student-athlete support and athletic communications administrators as well as faculty athletic representatives.