Bay Path Field Hockey, Jessica Priestly Honored by NECC
ATTLEBORO, Mass. -Wheelock College was well-represented on the 2009 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Field Hockey All-Conference Team, announced by Commissioner Del Malloy. In addition to the All-NECC honors, four separate major individual award winners and the team sportsmanship award were also voted upon and selected. (Right, clockwise from left: Milbrey Hendrix, Chelsey Ballard, Michaela Ross, and Julie Kilcoyne.)
Wheelock College head coach Kyoungho Koh was named the 2009 NECC Field Hockey Coach of the Year. She led the Wildcats to a 7-1- overall record and a second-place regular-season finish at 6-2 in conference play. Koh coached Wheelock to the #2 seed spot in the 2009 NECC Women's Field Hockey Championship, making it to their first ever title match this weekend.
Four Wheelock players were named to the All-NECC First Team that included, in the forward positions: Daniel Webster's sophomore Natalie Bates (North Kingstown, R.I.) and Wheelock's junior Milbrey Hendrix (Kennett Square, Penn.); in the midfielder position were Wheelock's Chelsey Ballard (Mansfield, Mass.) and junior Julie Kilcoyne (Sterling, Mass.) along with Daniel Webster's sophomore Sarah Steves (N. Granville, N.Y.); in the defender position were Wheelock's junior Michaela Ross (Mansfield, Mass.), Becker's junior Jessica Provencher (Berwick, Maine) and Daniel Webster's freshman Maeghan Farrelly (Jamestown, R.I.).
Six players received honorable mention, including three Elms Blazers in senior defender Danielle Gero (Holyoke, Mass.), senior midfielder Danielle Boyer (South Hadley, Mass.) and freshman keeper Alexandra Bonavita (Agawam, Mass.); one Bay Path Wildcat junior midfielder Jessica Priestly (Middleboro, Mass.), one Wheelock Wildcat junior goalkeeper Meredith Race (Marion, Mass.) and finally a Becker Hawk freshman defender Carly Barone (Attleboro, Mass.).
The Becker College Hawks swept all three major player awards as they finished a perfect 8-0 in conference play. Becker sophomore forward Victoria Sirchia (Goshen, Conn.) was named the 2009 NECC Field Hockey Player of the Year. Sirchia was previously named the 2008 NECC Rookie of the Year last season. The design major led the NECC in almost every major scoring category including points averaging 2.75 per game, shots averaging 5.00 per game and goals averaging 1.25 per game. Sirchia played and started all 19 games with 11 goals, three assists for 25 points this season.
Fellow Hawk junior Nakita Gosselin (Springfield, Vt.) was named the 2009 NECC Field Hockey Goalie of the Year. Gosselin played and started in goal for all eight conference games with 17 saves, a 0.48 goals against average, a .850 save percentage and five NECC shut-outs. Overall she has played 980 minutes while notching 50 saves with a .714 save percentage, a 1.84 goals against average and five shut-outs.
Becker freshman forward Brooke Cote (Fitchburg, Mass.) nabbed the 2009 NECC Field Hockey Rookie of the Year for her first year. Cote finished third in the NECC in scoring and points averaging 0.88 goals per game and 1.88 points per game and was first for game winning goals at 0.25 per game. For her freshman campaign, she finished overall with nine goals, two assists for 20 points, right behind Sirchia.
The Wildcats of Bay Path College, coached by head coach Katie Jones, were honored as the 2009 NECC Team Sportsmanship Award recipients. The Wildcats earned this award for the second straight season for the two-year old program.
