Full News Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Top- ranked Endicott
took three major conference awards and placed nine members of their
women’s lacrosse team on the All-Commonwealth Coast
Conference (CCC) Teams, announced Thursday by Commissioner Gregg M.
Kaye.
Seniors Morgan DeShaw (Danville, N.H.) and Leah Neff (South
Berwick, Maine) were named Offensive and Defensive Players of the
Year, respectively, and Head Coach Meghan Fitzgerald was named the
CCC Coach of the Year. Endicott also placed nine-players on the
All-CCC team.
Joining DeShaw and Neff on the first team were attacker Holly
Davis (Guilford, Conn.) and defender Kelsey Barnes (Brookside,
N.J.). Attacker Kelly Tierney (South Hadley, Mass.) and midfielder
Michelle Loizzo (Longmeadow, Mass.) were each named to the All-CCC
second team, while attacker Callie Murphy (Woburn, Mass.),
midfielder Lauren Todd (Newfields, N.H.) and defender Stacia Geno
(White River Junction, Vt.) were each named All-CCC honorable
mention.
Todd, Barnes and Davis are being honored for the second
consecutive year, while DeShaw and Neff have now been named
All-Conference in each of the past three seasons.
DeShaw ranked second in the league in points (78), third in goals
scored per game (3.47) and fifth in assists dished out per game
(1.73). DeShaw helped lead an offense that placed 30th in the most
recent NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse rankings in points
(321), while individually ranking in the top 100 among NCAA DIII
players in points (36th), points per game (44th), goals per game
(87th), total assists (46th), assists per game (26th) and total
goals (52nd). This senior standout hit a career milestone as she
scored her 200th career goal to help the Gulls cap a perfect 7-0
CCC record over the regular season, netting seven goals against
Nichols to bring her career record to 201, entering the CCC
tournament.
Neff, a senior goalkeeper from South Berwick, Maine, was a
dominant force in net this season and led a defensive corps that is
ranked 41st among all NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse
teams in scoring defense, which allowed just 9.47 goals per game.
She ranked first among conference keepers in goals against average
(9.47) and save percentage (.496), while starting in all 15 of the
Gulls’ contests this season. On top of this season’s
accolades, Neff is a two-time All-CCC Second Team Selection (2010,
2011).
In her fourth season as at the helm of the Endicott Gulls
women’s lacrosse program, Fitzgerald is being recognized for
the second time as CCC Coach of the Year for her strong leadership.
In Fitzgerald’s first three years with the program, she
directed the Gulls to three consecutive CCC Championships, winning
this award in 2010 for the first time.
Davis, a junior attack, was second on the team with 42 goals and
averaged 3.00 goals per game, good for 10th in the
conference. She also led the team in draw controls, grabbing 69 on
the season and ranked fourth in the conference with 4.93 draw
controls per game. Davis had an assist on 9 goals, giving her 51
points for the year, third best on the Gull’s squad, and she
also managed to grab 18 ground balls.
Barnes was part of an Endicott defensive line that was the only
team in the CCC to allow fewer than 10 goals per game on the
season. The sophomore defender caused 11 turnovers and picked up 21
ground balls while also winning three draw controls.
Tiereny was second on the team in points and with 35 goals
and 22 assists. The junior was sixth in the conference in assists
per game (1.47) and topped the CCC with 3 game winning goals. She
helped the Gulls by grabbing 15 ground balls and was 12-15 (80%) on
free-position attempts.
Loizzo and Todd were two consistent and versatile players that
helped out on either side of the ball for the Gulls. Loizzo,
playing in her senior season, scored 13 goals and had five assists
while also leading Endicott field players with 29 ground balls,
winning 14 draw controls and causing nine turnovers. Todd, a
junior, poured in 19 goals and had 8 assists to go along, also
finding the time to grab 28 ground balls and win 11 draw controls.
Todd co-led the team in caused turnovers, forcing opponents to give
up the ball 17 times this season.
Callie Murphy, a sophomore, was fourth on the team in points with
50, scoring 31 goals and assisting on 19 more. Murphy grabbed 15
ground balls and four draw controls and caused 12 turnovers on the
defensive side of the ball.
Junior Stacia Geno caused 12 turnovers herself and picked up 18
ground balls for Endicott. She also controlled three draws from her
defensive position for the Gulls.
The Gulls (10-5, 7-0 CCC) have earned the \#1 seed and a bye in
the first round of the tournament. They will host the winner of the
quarterfinal game between Roger Williams and Salve Regina in
Beverly on Wednesday, May 2nd at 4:00 pm.