Watertown, Massachusetts, junior is first regional player of the year in program history
EASTON, Mass. (December 16, 2014) – Stonehill College junior All-American Erika Kelly (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) has been named the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II North Region Player of the Year, the organization announced today.
Kelly is the first Stonehill student-athlete in program history to earn regional player of the year honors and is now a candidate for National Player of the Year honors along with South Region Player of the Year Rachel Dickinson of Millersville (Pa.) University. The NFHCA will announce the national player of the year tomorrow.
Kelly is a two-time All-Northeast-10 Conference first team pick after her selection this fall, leading Stonehill to its second NE-10 Tournament Championship in program history and a second-straight NCAA Tournament bid. She started all 20 games played and leads the Skyhawks with 25 goals to go with six assists for a team-high 56 points, ranking second among NCAA and NE-10 leaders for goals and points. She netted a team-high five game winning goals, including two in overtime, and converted 3-of-4 penalty stroke attempts for the team. Her goal and point totals are the second-highest single season totals in program history behind her own program-records of 38 goals and 78 points in 2013.
Kelly, who was named to the NCAA Tournament All-Championship team in Louisville, Kentucky, last week, posted a season-high nine points with a season-best four goals to go with an assist in the Skyhawks' 8-7 overtime win against 8th-ranked East Stroudsburg University on September 7. She posted three or more points in nine of her 20 games played this season, netting four hat tricks and seven multi-goal games overall. Kelly was named the Northeast-10 Player of the Week twice this season on September 22 and October 13, giving her five weekly honors overall for her career.
Kelly, a consensus first team All-American as a sophomore, has broken the career records at Stonehill for goals and points scored this season, posting 71 goals and ten assists for 152 points in 60 career games played. She has converted 15 game winning goals and 6-of-8 penalty strokes over her career. Kelly surpassed the career goals record with her two markers in a 4-1 win at Franklin Pierce University on September 20, and then broke the career scoring mark with a hat trick performance in a 6-2 win at Southern Connecticut State University on November 1. She was named to the NE-10 All-Rookie Team as a freshman and she ranks fifth in Northeast-10 history for career goals scored and eighth in scoring.
Stonehill, ranked fifth in the final regular season Penn Monto/NFHCA Division II poll, finished the 2014 season with a 17-4 record overall, including a 9-2 mark in Northeast-10 play. The Skyhawks won their second NE-10 Tournament Championship in program history with a 1-0 win at 4th-ranked LIU Post on November 22 and earned their sixth NCAA Tournament bid in program history with the top seed in the North Region to reach the national semifinals for the fourth time in program history.
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