Fresh off winning the 2022 America East women’s soccer regular-season title, Binghamton was the recipient of three of the conference’s six major awards for their performances during the 2022 regular season. The Bearcats earned Striker of the Year (Maya Anand), Midfielder of the Year (Olivia McKnight) and Coaching Staff of the Year accolades to lead the honorees. Additionally, Maine took home two awards, Defender of the Year (Halle Rogers) and Goalkeeper of the Year (Kira Kutzinski), while UAlbany’s Emily Jozak was named Rookie of the Year.
The major award winners were determined in a vote by the league's nine head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players.
2022 #AEWSOC Major Award Winners
Striker of the Year
Maya Anand, Sr., Binghamton
- League leader in goals and points per game.
- Totaled 10 goals and four assists for 24 points, tied for the most in the conference.
- Second-ever Bearcat to be named Striker of the Year (Kayla Saager, 2017).
- Twice named America East Offensive Player of the Week this year.
- Was also selected to first-team All-Conference and the All-Academic team.
Midfielder of the Year
Olivia McKnight, Sr., Binghamton
- First-ever Bearcat to be named Midfielder of the Year.
- Tied for league lead with 11 points during America East play, including a conference-best three assists.
- Totaled 16 points on six scores and four assists overall.
- Named America East Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 21
- Also earned first-team All-America East and All-Academic honors.
Defender of the Year
Halle Rogers, Sr., Maine
- Just the sixth Maine standout to earn Defender of the Year honors and first since 2015.
- Led a defense that paced America East with only 13 goals allowed and an .813 goals against average.
- Played 1,397 minutes, tops among Maine field players.
- Also earned first-team All-Conference honors for the third time and was an All-Academic selection.
Goalkeeper of the Year
Kira Kutzinski, Gr., Maine
- League leader with a .819 goals against average.
- Tied for the league lead in shutouts (7).
- Second in save percentage (.829).
- Leads the conference and among national leaders in saves per game (6.4).
- Also named the first-team All-Conference goalkeeper and an All-Academic selection.
Rookie of the Year
Emily Jozak, Fr., UAlbany
- Tied for third in the league in goals (7)
- First Great Dane to earn Rookie of the Year honors since 2019 and the sixth in school history.
- Named #AEWSOC Rookie of the Week a league-best three times this season.
- Also named the to the All-Rookie Team.
Coaching Staff of the Year
Binghamton
- Led by head coach Neel Bhattacharjee, Binghamton captured its first regular-season title since 2017 and just the third in program history.
- Top seed for the #AEWSOC Championship for just the second time.
- League’s top offensive team and rank in the top 30 nationally averaging 2.2 goals per game.
- Bhattacharjee is assisted by Nicole Pacapelli and Taylor Bennett.
On Oct. 28, 22 players earned All-Conference recognition while 12 were All-Rookie choices and 13 garnered All-Academic recognition. View a complete list of All-Conference, All-Rookie & All-Academic selections.
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