#AEWSOC Standouts from 5 Programs Earn Major Awards as 2017 Hardware is Handed Out
2017 #AEWSOC Awards Listing
BOSTON — Student-athletes from five different programs, the top five seeds in the #AEWSOC Championship, earned major awards highlighting the conference’s 2017 award winners, which were announced Wednesday afternoon.
Binghamton University’s Kayla Saager earned Striker of the Year honors while Sierra Stone from the University of Hartford was named Midfielder of the Year. University at Albany’s Caroline Kopp was voted Defender of the Year and University of New Hampshire’s Mia Neas was picked Goalkeeper of the Year. Sofia Manner from Stony Brook University garnered Rookie of the Year accolades. Additionally, the coaching staffs from Binghamton and New Hampshire, the league’s co-regular-season champions, shared Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
The 2017 #AEWSOC awards, along with the All-Conference & All-Rookie teams, were determined in a vote by the league's nine head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players. The All-Academic team was voted on by a committee of administrators from the conference’s member institutions.
Striker of the Year
Kayla Saager, Jr., Forward, Binghamton
- League leader in points (29), goals (11) and assists (7).
- First-ever Bearcat to win Striker of the Year honors.
- Led Binghamton to its first #AEWSOC regular-season title since 2004.
- Earned three America East Player of the Week honors this season.
Midfielder of the Year
Sierra Stone, So., Midfielder, Hartford
- Ranks second among league leaders in assists (6) and is eighth in points (14).
- First #AEWSOC player to win a positional Player of the Year honor one season after earning Rookie of the Year honors since 2005 (Marie-Andree Canuel, Maine).
- Second-straight Hawk to earn Midfielder of the Year honors (Tori Tripp).
- Also a first-team All-Conference midfield selection.
Defender of the Year
Caroline Kopp, Jr., Defender, Albany
- First-ever Great Dane to earn Defender of the Year honors.
- Has started 58 consecutive games at back.
- Helped Great Danes hold foes to nine goals in eight league games.
- Also a first-team All-Conference defender for the second-straight season.
Goalkeeper of the Year
Mia Neas, Sr., Goalkeeper, New Hampshire
- Leads the conference in GAA (0.86) and tied for the lead in shutouts (6).
- Second in save percentage (.865).
- Just the second Wildcat to earn Goalkeeper of Year honors and first since 2002.
- Led Wildcats to their first #AEWSOC #1 seed since 2007.
- Also the first-team All-Conference goalkeeper.
Rookie of the Year
Sofia Manner, Fr., Goalkeeper, Stony Brook
- Second in the league with a 0.68 GAA in conference play.
- Fourth overall with a 0.93 GAA.
- First Seawolf to be named Rookie of Year since 2008 and just the third in program history.
- First goalkeeper to be named Rookie of the Year since 2010 (Kelly King, Boston U.).
- Also an All-Rookie team choice.
Co-Coaching Staff of the Year
Binghamton
- Led by head coach Neel Bhattacharjee, the Bearcats earned a share of the regular-season title for the first time since 2004 after being picked eighth in the preseason poll.
- Binghamton is 11-3-4 after going 6-10-2 last year and is in the #AEWSOC championship for the first time since 2014.
- It’s the first time Binghamton has earned Coaching Staff of the Year recognition since 2004.
- Bhattacharjee is assisted by Taylor Schram and Jackie Firenze.
Co-Coaching Staff of the Year
New Hampshire
- Led by head coach Steve Welham, UNH earned the #AEWSOC championship top seed for the first time since 2007 after being selected third in the preseason poll.
- Binghamton is 11-5-1 after going 7-9-3 last season.
- It’s the first Coaching Staff of Year honor for Wildcats since 2002.
- Welham is assisted by Amanda Webb and Sammy Boateng.
Twenty-two players earned All-Conference recognition while 13 were All-Rookie choices and 13 garnered All-Academic recognition. View a complete list of All-Conference, All-Rookie & All-Academic selections.
The 2017 #AEWSOC Championship gets underway with quarterfinal action on Thursday, Oct. 26 as #4 Hartford hosts #5 Stony Brook at 6 p.m. and #3 Albany entertains #6 Vermont at 7 p.m. Semifinal action takes place on Sunday, Oct. 29 with #2 Binghamton welcoming the Albany-Vermont winner at 1 p.m. and #1 New Hampshire hosting the Hartford-Stony Brook winner at 2 p.m. The semifinal winners will face off for the 2017 conference title at the higher remaining seed on either Saturday, Nov. 4 or Sunday, Nov. 5. All tournament games will air on either ESPN3 or AmericaEast.TV.
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each round in addition to team information, tournament history and more. Follow @AmericaEast and @AEDigitalNet on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEWSOC hashtags to join the conversation.
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