BOSTON — Five different teams took home major awards as the 2015 America East Field Hockey annual hardware was given out at the conference’s championship banquet in Albany, site of this week’s America East Championship.
Reigning national Player of the Year Paula Heuser from Albany took home her third straight Midfielder of the Year award to highlight the winners. Four major awards went West Division schools playing as associate members in the conference for the first year with California’s Melina Moore earning Rookie of the Year honors, Stanford’s Maddie Secco garnering Offensive Player of the Year recognition and teammate Dulcie Davies receiving Goalkeeper of the Year honors. Pacific’s Savannah Burns took home the Defensive Player of the Year trophy and Maine’s coaching staff, led by head coach Josette Babineau earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
Rookie of the Year
Melina Moore, Fr., California
- The conference’s top rookie scorer, she also earned second-team All-Conference honors.
- Ranks sixth overall with 1.3 points per game while her 10 total goals are fifth best in the league.
- Was twice named Rookie of the Week this season.
Offensive Player of the Year
Maddie Secco, Sr., Stanford
- The leader offensively for the 13th-ranked Cardinal, Secco ranks fifth in the league in points per game.
- Ranks fourth among league leaders with 10 assists.
- Has a pair of game-winning goals.
Midfielder of the Year
Paula Heuser, Jr., Albany
- The reigning national Player of the Year, Heuser is the Midfielder of the Year for the third-straight season.
- She ranks third in the nation averaging 3.44 points per game with 26 total goals and 10 assists.
- Was a six-time America East Player of the Week this season.
- Also a first-team All-Conference choice for the third-straight year.
Defensive Player of the Year
Savannah Burns, So., Pacific
- Led a Tiger defense that has cut their goals against average nearly in half from 2014.
- Pacific ranks second in America East with a 1.29 GAA and has a league-best five shutouts on the year.
- Burns has also contributed offensively with 22 points, eighth-best in the league.
Goalkeeper of the Year
Dulcie Davies, Sr., Stanford
- A first-team All-American a year ago, Davies is again among the nation’s leaders statistically,
- Ranks third with an .824 percent save percentage and is eighth with a 1.11 goals against average.
- The two-time Defensive Player of the Week also has a league-best four shutouts.
- Is also the first-team All-Conference goalkeeper.
Coaching Staff of the Year
University of Maine (Josette Babineau, Head Coach)
- Josette Babineau’s squad is in the midst of one its best seasons in program history.
- Matched its program single-season record with 17 wins.
- Ranked 19th in the country, Maine earned a share of the East Division title, just their second America East regular-season title ever and first since 2005.
- Has improved its win total by seven from 2014.
Joining Heuser. Secco, Burns and Davies as first-team All-America East selections are Albany’s Jaclyn Hibbs, California’s Clara Goni and Marie Lanckneus, Maine’s Nicole Sevey, New Hampshire’s Gianna Bensaia and Lindsey Nerbonne and Stanford’s Sarah Helgeson.
With Moore on the second-team squad is Albany’s Anna Bottino and Fiori Van Rijswijk, Maine’s Sydney Veljacic, UMass Lowell’s Sophie Watt, Pacific’s Kelsey Gulledge and Alicia Muinos, Stanford’s Caroline Beaudoin and Jessica Chisholm and Vermont’s Lauren Tucker. Albany’s Maxi Primus and Pacific’s Laura Pujade shared second-team goalkeeper honors.
Lanckneus, Moore and Tucker headline the All-Rookie team along with Albany’s Frederike Helmke and Megan Ma, Maine’s Libby Riedl, Pacific’s Rylee Comeau and Justine Van Latham, New Hampshire’s Katie Audino, Stanford’s Jordan Barry and Vermont’s Greer Wilson.
Heuser, Davies, Primus, Van Rijswijk and Veljacic were also All-Academic honorees and joined by Albany’s Taylor Schwoyer, California’s Kori Griswold, UC Davis’ Hannah Drawbridge, UMass Lowell’s Kelly Freitas, New Hampshire’s Meg Carroll and Chandler Giese and Vermont’s Aria Robinson. 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.