Georgian Court's Melissa Williams Named 2015 CACC Women's Lacrosse Player of the Year
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (April 20, 2015) – Georgian Court University standout Melissa Williams on Monday was named the 2015 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women’s Lacrosse Player of the Year, which highlighted the list of all-conference award winners in the sport as announced by Commissioner Dan Mara.
Joining Williams as major year-end award winners in the sport were Chestnut Hill College’s Hunter Leckonby, who was named CACC Rookie of the Year; Philadelphia University’s Katie Parent, who was named the league’s inaugural defensive player of the year; and Holy Family University’s Monica Quinn as the BSN Sports Coach of the Year for her masterful guidance of the Tigers to the league’s regular season championship with an 8-0 conference record.
In addition, Nyack College was named the 2015 CACC Team Sportsmanship award winner in the sport for its dedication to promoting the game through positive attitude and work ethic.
Williams was crowned the league’s top player after she led the CACC with 87 points in the regular season, as the mark was 12 more than the next individual on the list. The junior attacker ranked second with 51 goals, while topping the conference with 36 assists.
Leckonby took home the CACC’s top rookie honor after she led Chestnut Hill in goals (37) and points (41) during the regular season. Her goal total is the ninth highest in the league, as she scored those 37 tallies on just 78 attempts for a 47 percent shooting percentage.
Parent garnered the sport’s inaugural defensive player accolade, as she logged 57 ground balls, 36 draw controls and 30 caused turnovers from her defensive position in the midfield. The CACC Defensive Player-of-the-Year award was created prior to the start of the 2014-15 season to honor stellar defensive play in the sports of men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and women’s lacrosse.
As noted above, Quinn received top coach billing for guiding the Tigers to the regular season crown. Holy Family’s 8-0 record in league play comes on the heels of the Tigers advancing to last season’s CACC championship final. Holy Family is 12-3 overall this season, including winning 10 in a row heading into this week’s CACC post-season tournament.
The voting for the player awards and team sportsmanship award was conducted by the league’s nine head coaches. Voting for coach of the year was handled by the sports information directors throughout the conference.
In addition to Williams being named the player of the year in the CACC, she also garnered a spot on the All-CACC First-Team at attack. Joining her at attack on the All-CACC First-Team were Sara LeBrun (Wilmington University) and Elizabeth Marrosu (Philadelphia University). Five midfielders garnered spots on the conference’s top team, including Liz Mower (Philadelphia U.), Rebekah McCurry (Wilmington), Paige Settar (Holy Family), Brianna Lancetta (Holy Family) and Callie Brown (Georgian Court). Three defenders were placed on the first-team, including Emily Gialanella (Georgian Court), Allison Cassidy (Philadelphia U.) and Caitlin Carrezola (Holy Family). Corinne Dries (Wilmington) was named to the All-CACC First-Team at goalkeeper, as she notched 158 saves on the year with a 42 percent save percentage.
Parent was named to the All-CACC Second-Team at midfield to go along with her defensive player-of-the-year honor. She was joined on the second-team at midfield by Lauren Lebo (Nyack College), Miranda Polaski (Post University), Christina Brennan (Dominican College) and Gina Sparaco (Dominican). The three attackers who made the second-team were Allison Smithwick (Dominican), Erin Harmer (Holy Family) and Christina Bonomo (Holy Family). Holy Family’s Kimber Kisselback and Ursula Coyle were named to the second-team as defenders, along with Nyack’s Karly Walborn. Georgian Court’s Amanda Cathcart was tabbed as the goalie on the second-team after she led the CACC with an 8.48 goals against average.
The announcement of the major awards and all-conference teams come a day prior to the start of the 2015 CACC Women’s Lacrosse Championship. The tournament kicks off on Tuesday with the first round as sixth-seeded Dominican travels to face third-seeded Philadelphia at 4 p.m. Fifth-seeded Chestnut Hill travels to take on fourth-seeded Wilmington at 2 p.m. The winners of those two games will advance to championship weekend this Saturday and Sunday at Georgian Court University in Lakewood, N.J. The CHC-WilmU winner will face top-seeded Holy Family in the semifinals on Saturday at 12 p.m., followed by the Dominican-PhilaU winner taking on second-seeded Georgian Court at 2:30 p.m. The two semifinal winners will square off for the CACC Championship on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Live video of the semifinals and final will be provided through CACCAthletics.org(.)
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician College, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Nyack College, Philadelphia University, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.
2015 CACC WOMEN’S LACROSSE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
Holy Family University
2015 BSN SPORTS/CACC COACH OF THE YEAR
Monica Quinn (Holy Family University)
2015 CACC WOMEN’S LACROSSE TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Nyack College
2015 CACC WOMEN’S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Melissa Williams (Georgian Court University)
2015 CACC WOMEN’S LACROSSE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Katie Parent (Philadelphia University)
2015 CACC WOMEN’S LACROSSE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Hunter Leckonby (Chestnut Hill College)
2015 CACC WOMEN’S LACROSSE ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
First-Team
A Melissa Williams (Georgian Court University)
A Sara LeBrun (Wilmington University)
A Elizabeth Marrosu (Philadelphia University)
M Liz Mower (Philadelphia University)
M Rebekah McCurry (Wilmington University)
M Paige Settar (Holy Family University)
M Brianna Lancetta (Holy Family University)
M Callie Brown (Georgian Court University)
D Emily Gialanella (Georgian Court University)
D Allison Cassidy (Philadelphia University)
D Caitlin Carrezola (Holy Family University)
GK Corinne Dries (Wilmington University)
Second-Team
A Allison Smithwick (Dominican College)
A Erin Harmer (Holy Family University)
A Christina Bonomo (Holy Family University)
M Katie Parent (Philadelphia University)
M Lauren Lebo (Nyack College)
M Miranda Polaski (Post University)
M Christina Brennan (Dominican College)
M Gina Sparaco (Dominican College)
D Kimber Kisselback (Holy Family University)
D Ursula Coyle (Holy Family University)
D Karly Walborn (Nyack College)
GK Amanda Cathcart (Georgian Court University)