BEVERLY, Mass. – Eleven members of the Endicott women's lacrosse team have earned Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) postseason honors, as announced by the league earlier today.
Headlining the group of award winners were junior goalie Lydia Akins (Edina, Minn.) and head coach Maureen Spellman.
Akins was named the CCC Defensive Player of the Year for the first time in her career.
She is now the fourth straight honoree to earn the award for the Gulls and the 10th overall selection in program history. The latter figure leads the CCC all-time list as well.
Meanwhile, Spellman claimed her second career CCC Coach of the Year award (2019, 2023) after leading Endicott to an 8-0 conference record and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament this season.
The remaining award winners for the Gulls included:
ALL-CCC FIRST TEAM
A – Katy Garvin (Mansfield, Mass.)
A – Kiana Napolitano (Revere, Mass.)
M – Katie Schenk (Southbury, Conn.)
D – Matilda Darrah (Dover, N.H.)
G – Lydia Akins (Edina, Minn.)
ALL-CCC SECOND TEAM
A – Alex Palermo (Reading, Mass.)
A – Carly Pierce (Exeter, N.H.)
D – KC O'Connor (Boston, Mass.)
ALL-CCC THIRD TEAM
M – Mia Smith (Portsmouth, N.H.)
D – Nora Staunton (Bloomfield, Conn.)
MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
LYDIA AKINS | JR. | EDINA, MINN.
Defensive Player of the Year | All-CCC First Team
In 17 games played (all starts), Akins notched a 9-8 overall record via 152 saves (.484) and a 10.49 goals against average (GAA) in 927 minutes played.
Akins' CCC ranks included: games played (2nd), games started (2nd), minutes (3rd), goals against (162, 6th), GAA (3rd), saves (2nd), save percentage (3rd), wins (4th), and win percentage (.529, 6th).
She also made 10 or more saves in six contests, highlighted by a career-high 19-save effort against Western New England on April 22 (W, 16-8).
Among her NCAA Division III peers, Akins ranked 69th in GAA, 54th in save percentage, 52nd in saves, and 75th in saves per game (8.94).
MAUREEN SPELLMAN | HEAD COACH | SIXTH YEAR
Coach of the Year
Spellman, and the rest of the coaching staff, led Endicott to a league-leading 5.25 GAA in conference-only games this season.
The Gulls also paced the conference in save percentage (.628) and total clears (136, .866).
Spellman is 63-27 overall (.700) and 37-1 in conference games (.974) in her six seasons (2018-present) at the helm of the program.
During that span, Endicott has won two conference championships and advanced to the title game in every season.
YEAR IN REVIEW
Endicott went 11-8 overall and 8-0 in league play.
The first-seeded Gulls advanced to the CCC Championship for the 17th time in program history before falling to Roger Williams in the title game.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)
