Acone Earns Nod As Northeast-10 Women's Lacrosse Player Of Year For Second Straight Season, Darrell, Carey And Daly Also Earn Top Conference Accolades

May 8, 2005

Stonehill College junior All-America midfielder Erin Acone has been named as the 2005 Northeast-10 Conference Women’s Lacrosse Player of the Year for the second straight season in a vote of the league’s coaches. Acone is one of four Chieftains to earn top individual awards from the conference, as freshman midfielder Kristin Darrell and senior defender Meaghan Carey were tabbed as the 2005 Northeast-10 Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, while Stonehill Head Coach Michael Daly was recognized by his peers as the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season.

Acone, a native of Bow, N.H. and a graduate of Bow High School, joins former Stonehill standout Katie Lambert as the only multiple recipient of the Northeast-10 Player of the Year accolade, as Lambert copped the honor from 2001 through 2003. One of two Division II players nationally to be named to the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List this spring, Acone is tied for the team scoring lead with 81 points to date, including a team-best 64 goals to go with 17 assists. A three-time selection as the conference’s Player of the Week this season, Acone became the fourth player in school history to surpass the 200-career point plateau earlier in the spring and is one of eight Chieftains to score 100 career goals.

Darrell, a native of West Islip, N.Y. and a graduate of West Islip High School, becomes the fourth Stonehill player to win Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year honors, joining Lambert (2001), Colette Carpenter (2002) and Acone (2003). The three-time league Freshman of the Week has posted 53 goals and 12 assists for 65 points during her rookie campaign, including eight goals during the Northeast-10 championship tournament over the weekend.

Carey, a native of Hingham, Mass. and a graduate of Hingham High School, is the second Chieftain to earn Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year accolades, joining teammate Kate Sarkissian, who won the honor in 2004. Carey has amassed a team-high 53 ground balls while adding 22 caused turnovers for the top-ranked defensive unit in Division II nationally, as Stonehill has allowed just 3.74 goals per game through 19 outings this season.

Daly claims his fifth Northeast-10 Coach of the Year award in seven seasons, as he first won the honor in 1999 before copping the accolade in each of the last four campaigns. A two-time selection as IWLCA Division II National Coach of the Year, he sports an overall mark of 104-22 (.825) in seven seasons at Stonehill and has guided the Chieftains to seven straight Northeast-10 regular season titles, six conference tournament championships and the 2003 NCAA Division II national championship.

Acone, Darrell and Carey were among nine individuals to earn spots on the 2005 Northeast-10 all-conference squad, as that trio was joined by seniors Colette Carpenter (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and Colby Confer (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) and junior Jenny McGrath (Milton, Mass./Milton) on the first team all-league squad. Carpenter has posted 24 goals and 24 assists for 48 points, while Confer has netted 57 goals and 12 assists for 69 points to date, as both players are in Stonehill’s 200-career point club along with Acone and Lambert. McGrath shares the team scoring lead with Acone in netting 81 points to date on 55 goals and 26 assists.

Senior Brenna Newfell (North Billerica, Mass./Billerica), junior All-America Kate Sarkissian (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) and freshman Katie Gavin (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) each earned second-team all-Northeast-10 accolades for their performances this season, as Newfell, the 2005 Northeast-10 championship Most Valuable Player, has collected 29 goals and seven assists for 36 points, while Sarkissian and Gavin have combined for 80 ground balls and 34 caused turnovers on the season as part of the top-ranked Chieftain defensive unit.

Stonehill stands at 19-0 on the season, as the Chieftains have posted a school-record 25 straight victories dating back to April 2004. Stonehill’s 19 wins also represents a school single-season record, besting the previous mark of 17 set during the 2003 NCAA national championship campaign. The Chieftains have been the top-ranked team in the IWLCA Division II national poll over the last five weeks.