2018 #AEWSOC Annual Awards Bestowed on Eve of League Championship
2018 #AEWSOC Awards Listing
BOSTON — With the 2018 America East Women’s Soccer Championship set to begin tomorrow, the conference’s annual award winners were announced Wednesday afternoon, highlighted by the six major award winners, three from UAlbany, a pair of co-regular-season champion Stony Brook and one from UMass Lowell.
UAlbany’s Mariah Williams, Caroline Kopp and Jada Colbert all earned major awards with Williams taking home Striker of the Year accolades, Kopp being tabbed Defender of the Year and Colbert garnering Rookie of the Year recognition. Stony Brook’s Sofia Manner was the Goalkeeper of the Year and the Seawolves’ staff earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors. UMass Lowell’s Rachel Morrier rounded out the honorees by taking home Midfielder of the Year.
The 2018 #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
Mariah Williams, Sr., UAlbany
- Tied for fourth nationally and league leader in goals (15).
- League leader in points (32).
- First-ever Great Dane to win Striker of the Year honors.
- Earned three America East Player of the Week honors this season.
Midfielder of the Year
Rachel Morrier, Sr., UMass Lowell
- Ranks third among conference leaders in points (26) and goals (10).
- First River Hawk to earn an #AEWSOC major award.
- Led UMass Lowell to the #AEWSOC Championship for the first time.
Defender of the Year
Caroline Kopp, Jr., Defender, Albany
- Repeat Defender of the Year.
- Just the fourth player to be named Defender of the Year multiple times.
- Her 12 assists are tied for the most in the country.
Goalkeeper of the Year
Sofia Manner, So., Goalkeeper, Stony Brook
- Leads the conference in save percentage (.794) and shutouts (7).
- Fourth Seawolf to earn Goalkeeper of the Year honors.
- Two-time America East Defensive Player of the Week during the season.
Rookie of the Year
Jada Colbert, Fr., Forward, UAlbany
- Third Great Dane in five years to be named Rookie of the Year.
- Also earned second-team All-Conference honors.
Coaching Staff of the Year
Stony Brook
- Led by head coach Brendan Faherty, the Seawolves earned a share of the regular-season title for the first time since 2013 and just the second time ever.
- Top seed for the #AEWSOC Championship for the first time in program history.
- Faherty is assisted by Sarah Martinez, Sade Ayinde and Shannon Grogan.
Twenty-two players earned All-Conference recognition while 11 were All-Rookie choices and 11 garnered All-Academic recognition. View a complete list of All-Conference, All-Rookie & All-Academic selections.
The 2018 #AEWSOC Championship gets underway with quarterfinal action on Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. as #4 UMass Lowell hosts #5 Vermont and #3 UAlbany entertains #6 New Hampshire. Semifinal action takes place on Sunday, Oct. 28 with #1 Stony Brook welcoming the UMass Lowell-Vermont winner at 12 p.m. and #2 Hartford hosting the UAlbany-New Hampshire winner at 2 p.m. The semifinal winners will face off for the 2018 conference title at the higher remaining seed on either Saturday, Nov. 3 or Sunday, Nov. 4. All tournament games will air on 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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