Senior Emily Sideris is the first three-time All-American in program history with her three straight second team selections by the NFHCA. (PHOTO BY Marcello Cutti, Jr./SMG) |
Kelly named a consensus first team All-American for second straight year
Sideris a first time consensus All-American; Thornton collects second team NFHCA honors for first time
EASTON, Mass. (December 22, 2014) – Three members of the Northeast-10 Conference Champion Stonehill College field hockey program have earned All-America honors for their performances during the season, with two achieving consensus All-America status by being named to both the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-America team as well earning All-America honors from synapsesports.com.
Junior forward Erika Kelly (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown), the Longstreth/NFHCA Division II North Region Player of the Year, is a consensus first team selection for the second straight year with her selection to both All-America teams, while senior Emily Sideris (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) is a consensus All-American for the first time with her first team honors from synapsesports.com and second team selection by the NFHCA for the third straight year, making her the first three-time All-American in program history. Junior Elizabeth Thornton (Needham, Massachusetts/Needham) earns All-America honors for the first time in her career by joining Sideris on the Longstreth/NFHCA second team. The three All-America selections are one shy of the program record for a season set in 2010 and matched in 2013 and bring its total number of Longstreth/NFHCA honorees to 25 all-time in program history.
Kelly, the first student-athlete in program history to earn North Region Player of the Year honors, joins Jackie Ladino '10 as the only two-time first team All-America selections from the NFHCA in program history. Kelly is the only two time consensus first team All-American in program history after earning the honors from both the NFHCA and synapsesports.com for the second straight year. The two-time All-Northeast-10 Conference first team pick started all 20 games played this fall and led Stonehill 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.
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Sideris |
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Thornton |
Kelly, who was named to the NCAA Tournament All-Championship team in Louisville, Kentucky, posted three or more points in nine of her 20 games played this season, netting four hat tricks and seven multi-goal games overall. She was named the Northeast-10 Player of the Week twice this season, giving her five weekly honors overall for her career. Kelly 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. 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.
Sideris, the first three-time All-American in program history with her three-straight Longstreth/NFHCA second team selections, is a consensus All-American for the first time by earning first team honors from synapsesports.com for the first time in her career. She started 16 of the 17 games she played this season and totaled six goals and four assists for 16 points. She scored two gamewinning goals and posted three goals and two assists for eight points in 11 Northeast-10 games. Sideris netted the lone goal in the Skyhawks 1-0 win over LIU Post in the NE-10 Championship game, and had a season-best three points with a goal and assist in a win over Southern New Hampshire University on October 4.
Junior Erika Kelly is the second two-time first team All-American in program history and first consensus first team pick. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Sideris, a three-time All-Northeast-10 selection who earned first team All-Conference honors for the first time this fall, played 62 games over her career at Stonehill. She finished with 18 goals and 12 assists for 48 points, including five gamewinning goals. Sideris, who earned a spot on the NE-10 All-Championship team as a junior, has been named to the Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division II National Academic Squad all three years to date, earning NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll status all six semesters and Athletic Director's Honor Roll four semesters.
Thornton earns All-America honors for the first time in her career with her Longstreth/NFHCA second team selection after also earning All-Northeast-10 honors for the first time with second team honors this fall. She started all 21 games for Stonehill this fall and posted seven goals and an assist for 15 points from the midfield, netting one gamewinner. Her goal at Merrimack College on November 12 forced overtime in the final minute and she also potted a goal in the Skyhawks' 3-1 win over Adelphi University in the NE-10 semifinals.
Thornton has appeared in 52 games over her three year career at Stonehill and posted ten goals and three assists for 23 points, with the one gamewinner. She has been named to the Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division II National Academic Squad each of her first two years, earning NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll status all four semesters to date.
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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