Acone Named As Northeast-10 Women's Lacrosse Player Of Year For Third Straight Season, Stone, Daly Tabbed As League Goalie, Coach Of Year

May 7, 2006

Senior All-America Erin Acone was named earlier today as the 2006 Northeast-10 Conference Women's Lacrosse Player of the Year in a vote taken of the league's coaches, as she becomes the second player in league history to earn the honor for three straight seasons. Additionally, fellow senior All-America Lauren Stone was tabbed as the 2006 Northeast-10 Co-Goalkeeper of the Year, and Skyhawk Head Coach Michael Daly was honored by his peers as the league's Coach of the Year for a fifth 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 two players in Northeast-10 history to earn Player of the Year honors for three straight seasons. In 19 contests this spring, Acone netted 61 goals and 39 assists for 90 points and became the eighth player in Division II history to eclipse the 300 career point plateau last week, joining Lambert as the only two Skyhawks to accomplish that feat. A two-time Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List nominee and a three-time Brine/IWLCA All-America selection, Erin finished her career with 227 goals and 84 assists for 311 points to rank third on the NCAA career list in goals and sixth all-time in scoring.

Stone, a native of Guilderland, N.Y. and a graduate of Guilderland High School, earns the nod as the Northeast-10 Goalkeeper of the Year for the second time in her career, as she will graduate of Stonehill's career leader in victories with 47 while also holding the Skyhawk career goals against average record at 4.72. In 16 appearances this spring, Stone posted a 12-3 mark with a 7.18 GAA to go with a .558 saves percentage, as she also set the school record for consecutive wins by a goalie at 32. The reigning IWLCA Division II Goalie of the Year, Lauren was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA Division II Championships in backstopping the Skyhawks to their second national title in three seasons.

Daly, who sports a 122-25 (.830) mark in eight seasons at Stonehill, has been named as the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year in each season since 2002 and has won the honor a total of six times in eight years. The three-time Division II National Coach of the Year has coached three conference Players of the Year as well as 14 All-America performers over that time span while guiding the Skyhawks to eight straight Northeast-10 regular season titles and seven straight league playoff crowns.

Acone and Stone were joined by three of their teammates on this year's Northeast-10 first-team all-conference squad. Senior All-America Jenny McGrath (Milton, Mass./Milton) earns the honor once again after leading the Skyhawks in scoring with 44 goals and 66 assists for 110 points, setting single-season school records in both assists and points in the process. Fellow senior All-America Kate Sarkissian (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) was honored for the fourth straight season for her efforts in anchoring a Stonehill defensive unit that once again ranks as the top of the conference. Sarkissian notched 51 ground balls and 29 caused turnovers this spring while adding a pair of assists on the offensive side. Sophomore All-America Kristin Darrell (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) also earned first-team all-league accolades for the second straight season, as last year's Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year followed up that performance with 71 goals and 18 assists for 89 points. Junior Tracey Hoffman (Nashua, N.H./Nashua) earned second-team all-Northeast-10 honors this spring as well, as she notched 31 goals and 16 assists for 47 points to earn all-league recognition for the second straight campaign.

Stonehill finished the season at 16-3 overall, as the Skyhawks completed their sixth straight unblemished Northeast-10 campaign at 10-0 in league action, having now won 58 straight conference matches since April 2000. Stonehill, which set an NCAA Division II record with 36 consecutive victories from April 2004 through April 2006, collected its eighth straight Northeast-10 regular season title and its seventh straight conference tournament crown.