2018 #AEFH Awards Announced Ahead of Championship
PALO ALTO, Calif. – On Halloween night, six student-athletes from three programs took home major treats at the annual awards banquet. The final night of October also marked the final night before the 2018 America East Field Hockey Championship as the All-Conference teams and major award winners were announced at Stanford University, the site of this year’s tournament.
Corinne Zanolli was named Offensive Player of the Year a season removed from being named Rookie of the Year. Frederike Helmke repeated as Defensive Player of the Year while Maine’s Casey Crowley earned Midfielder of the Year honors. Two of the nation’s best goalkeepers were named Co-Goalkeeper of the Year in Stanford junior Kelsey Bing and UAlbany junior Melissa Nealon. Stanford freshman Molly Redgrove was named Rookie of the Year and Stanford earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
The 2018 #AEFH 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.
Offensive Player of the Year
Corinne Zanolli, So. Forward, Stanford
- Ranks second in the country with 55 points on the season.
- Her 1.33 goals per game average leads the league and ranks third in Division I.
- Earned a major award for the second-straight year.
- Zanolli is the second Cardinal in program history to receive the award.
Midfielder of the Year
Casey Crowley, Sr., Midfielder, Maine
- Paced a potent scoring attack that ranked fourth nationally with 3.78 goals per game.
- Led the Black Bears with 26 points.
- Tied for team lead with 10 goals and six assists.
- Crowley is the first Black Bear to earn the honor since Stephanie Gardiner in 2011.
Defensive Player of the Year
Frederike Helmke, Sr., Back, UAlbany
- First repeat Defensive Player of the Year since New Hampshire’s Megan Bozek in 2012-13.
- Helmke anchored a defense that led the league and ranked second nationally in goals allowed per contest.
- Also scored the third-most points (19) and goals (8) for the Great Danes.
- She was named to the East Division All-Conference Team for the third consecutive year.
Co-Goalkeeper of the Year
Kelsey Bing, Jr., Goalkeeper, Stanford
- Ranks in the nation’s top-five in save percentage, stopping 78 percent of shots.
- Her 1.46 goals against average ranks third amongst the league’s goalkeepers.
- First repeat recipient since 2012.
- Bing has earned a major award and All-Conference denomination each season in which she has played.
Co-Goalkeeper of the Year
Melissa Nealon, Jr., Goalkeeper, UAlbany
- Leads the country with a .825 save percentage.
- Ranks third in the nation with a 0.72 goals against average.
- Leads America East goalkeepers in shutouts with eight.
- Was an East Division All-Conference selection for the second consecutive year.
Rookie of the Year
Molly Redgrove, Fr., Back, Stanford
- Part of a defense that allowed the second-fewest goals in league play.
- Ranks third on the team with five goals in her first collegiate season.
- Also assisted on five scores, totaling 15 points.
- Redgrove is the third Cardinal to receive the honor in as many years.
Coaching Staff of the Year
Stanford University
- Named Coaching Staff of the Year for the first time.
- Won the West Division regular season title for the fourth consecutive year.
- The team scored 3.22 goals per game, ranking second in the conference and tenth nationally.
- The two-time reigning champs have won 13 games for the tenth-straight season.
Twenty-two standouts were named to the All-Conference teams while 12 earned All-Rookie status and 12 were selected to the All-Academic Team. View the full list of All-Conference, All-Rookie and All-Academic teams.
The 2018 #AEFH Championship starts Thursday with cross-divisional quarterfinal matchups, which will be split over the course of two days. West #1 Stanford will face East #4 New Hampshire in the opening game at 1 p.m. (Pacific Time). East #1 UAlbany will play West #4 UC Davis in the following game at 3:30 p.m. Friday’s quarterfinal games begin with East #2 Maine and West #3 California at 12:00 p.m. followed by West #2 Pacific and East #3 Vermont at 2:30 p.m. The Stanford-New Hampshire winner will kick off Saturday’s semifinals action against the Maine-California winner at noon. The UAlbany-UC Davis winner will play the Pacific-Vermont winner in the second semifinal at 2:30 p.m. The 2018 America East championship game is set for Sunday at noon.
The entire championship will be streamed for free at AmericaEast.TV and be available on computers, tablets and smartphones.
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 #AEFH hashtags to join the conversation.
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