All-America Honors Roll in for Stonehill Field Hockey


Senior Erika Kelly is the first three-time first team All-American in program history. (PHOTO BY SportsPix)

Kelly and Morse consensus first team All-America honorees
Smith tabbed second team All-American by Synapse Sports
Smith and Freedman earn Division II All-Rookie honors from Synapse Sports

NFHCA Division II All-America Announcement

Synapse Sports Postseason Field Hockey Announcement

EASTON, Mass. (December 8, 2015) – Three members of the Northeast-10 Conference champion Stonehill College field hockey program have collected All-America honors it has been announced this week.

Senior forward Erika Kelly (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) and junior midfielder Sarah Morse (Westminster, Massachusetts/Oakmont Regional) headline Stonehill's All-America selections as consensus first team picks, receiving the honors from both the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) and Synapse Sports. Freshman Kacie Smith (Norwood, Massachusetts/Norwood) was named a second team All-American and All-Rookie Team selection from Synapse Sports to give head coach Susan Ciufo three All-America honorees in her first season at Stonehill. Joining Smith on the Synapse Sports Division II All-Rookie Team is freshman goalkeeper Sara Freedman (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton).

It marks the second straight year Stonehill has produced three All-Americans, which is one shy of the program record of four set in 2010 and matched in 2013, and Kelly and Morse bring the program's total number of Longstreth/NFHCA All-Americans to 27 all-time. Kelly is the first three-time first team All-America selection in program history, having collected the honors from both the NFHCA and Synapse Sports as a sophomore, junior and senior. The All-America honors are the first in Morse and Smith's careers.


Kelly

Morse

Smith

Freedman

Kelly, the two-time Longstreth/NFHCA East Region Player of the Year and 2015 Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year, is also one of two student-athletes in program history to collect first team All-NE-10 honors three years. She was the top scorer in Division II this fall with 65 points, scoring a Division II high 27 goals to go with 11 assists to rank third nationally. Kelly scored a team-high four game winning goals, posting five goals and an assist for 11 points during the Skyhawks three NE-10 Tournament wins, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win at Assumption College in the championship game, including the walk off game winner off a penalty corner after time had expired.

Kelly capped her Stonehill career as one of just five players in Division II history to eclipse 200 points, finishing third all-time with 217. Her 98 career goals is a Northeast-10 record, surpassing the previous mark of 92 by Sammy Macy of UMass Lowell (2007-10), and rank second all-time in Division II history. She also finished her career ranked seventh in program history with 21 assists, while her 19 career game-winners is a school record, potting a record ten as a sophomore. Kelly finished her career with 38 multi-point games, including 28 multi-goal outings, in 81 career games played. She has collected NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll status, and was selected to the NE-10's All-Rookie Team as a freshman.

Morse earns the first two All-America honors of her career after collecting All-Conference honors for the first time with her first team selection this fall. The NE-10 Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, ranked second nationally in Division II with her team-high 12 assists this season, finishing two shy of the program's single-season record for the second straight year. Morse also netted four goals to rank third on the team with 20 points, with three of her four goals game winners.


Junior Sarah Morse earn All-America honors for the first time as a consensus first team selection. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Morse has totaled six goals and 24 assists for 36 points in 59 career games played, adding one career defensive save. Morse ranks fifth in program history for career assists and has been named to the Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division II National Academic Squad each of the last two years, earning NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll status all four semesters to date. She also received the St. Thomas Aquinas Medal for having the highest cumulative grade point average on the team as a sophomore.

Smith made an immediate impact for Stonehill during her freshman year, also earning a spot on the All-NE-10 second team and Conference's All-Rookie Team in addition to her national awards from Synapse Sports. She finished her first collegiate season with 14 goals and seven assists for 35 points, ranking second on the team to Kelly for goals and points, while ranking third behind Kelly and Morse in assists. Smith ranks second among NE-10 leaders for goals, fourth for points and sixth in assists, while ranking tenth nationally in points per game (1.82), ninth for goals per game (0.71) and 13th for assists per game (0.41). She earned NE-10 Rookie of the Week honors four times during the fall, scoring a season-high three goals in wins over Southern New Hampshire University on September 12 and Southern Connecticut State University on October 16, the latter game she also dished a season-high matching two assists for a season-best eight points.

Freedman, who was also named to the NE-10 All-Rookie Team, saw the majority of time in the Stonehill goal during her freshman season. She finished with a 2.03 goals against average and .746 save percentage with 5.3 saves per game and two shutouts in 1,241:13 over 20 games, posting a 12-6 record. Freedman, named the NE-10 Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Week on September 28, ranks sixth in the NE-10 for saves and tenth for goals against average. She posted a season-high ten saves, while yielding just one goal, in the Skyhawks NE-10 Championship win at Assumption, notching two shutouts against Adelphi University and LIU Post in a three game span earlier in the year. Her 106 saves rank eight on Stonehill's all-time single season list.

Stonehill finished its 2015 season with a 14-7 record overall, including 9-3 in NE-10 play, before going on to win the program's third NE-10 Tournament Championship and earn the seventh NCAA Tournament bid in program history.

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