Sullivan earns IWLCA All-America first team honors for the first time after leading the NE10 in goals, draw controls, caused turnovers and ground balls (PHOTO By Crystal Ayn Photography) |
Sullivan and Rudden highlight selections with first team honors for first time
Butler names to second team with her first career All-America selection
IWLCA Division II All-America Teams Announced
EASTON, Mass. (May 19, 2022) – Three members of the Northeast-10 Conference champion Stonehill College women's lacrosse team have earned All-America status from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) the organization announced today.
Senior Emma Sullivan and junior Lydia Rudden headline Stonehill's first multiple honorees since 2015 with first team All-America honors from the IWLCA, while junior Victoria Butler earned a spot on the All-America second team. It marks the first All-America selections for all three Skyhawks, as the program's first All-Americans since 2017 and the first time Stonehill has earned multiple selections since 2015. Stonehill's two first team selections are the program's first since 2013, with multiple first team selections for the Skyhawks last coming in 2009. Stonehill's three All-America selections give the program 61 All-Americans at the Division II level as the College begins its transition to NCAA Division I status in the Northeast Conference in July, with 20 coming during head coach Katie Conover's '03 15 seasons in charge of the program, who was a four-time first team All-American as a student-athlete herself.
Sullivan, named NE10 Midfielder of the Year for the second-straight year with All-NE10 and IWLCA All-East Region first team accolades, earns IWLCA All-America honors for the first time with her first team selection. She enjoyed a record-setting senior season, setting Stonehill single-season marks and leading the NE10 with 74 goals, 78 ground balls, 148 draw controls and 48 caused turnovers, while ranking second in the NE10 to Rudden with 92 points, while dishing out 18 assists in 21 starts. The USA Lacrosse Magazine preseason All-American earned NE10 Defensive Player of the Week accolades five times this spring, adding NE10 Player of the Week honors once. She ranks 11th nationally in Division II for goals scored, 11th with 2.29 caused turnovers per game, 12th with 7.05 draw controls per game and seventh with 3.71 ground balls per game, while her 92 points rank 18th nationally.
Sullivan |
Rudden |
Butler |
Sullivan scored a career-high six goals in Stonehill's 20-15 NE10 semifinal win over No. 13 Pace University on May 7, adding an assist for a career-high matching seven points as she recorded 19 multi-goal games this season, totaling five or more points 11 times. She posted double-digit draw controls in six games, including a career-high 14 in the Skyhawks 18-17 NCAA Tournament win over No. 14 Mercy College on March 13, collecting a career-high eight ground balls in a 14-13 win at No. 14 Bentley University on March 26 and career-best five caused turnovers in wins over Concordia University-St. Paul on March 9 and at No. 12 Pace on April 13.
Sullivan, who received an Athletic Director's Award this spring and was named Stonehill's "Breakout Sophomore" Award recipient for the spring season in 2020, has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll multiple semesters over her career. She has surpassed both 100 points and 100 goals in her 52 career games played, totaling 134 goals and 33 assists for 167 career points, contributing 233 draw controls, 137 ground balls and 73 caused turnovers in her career. She ranks second all-time in program history for career draw controls, while ranking 12th all-time in career goals, ninth in ground balls and seventh in caused turnovers.
Rudden, the NE10 Attack of the Year and an All-NE10 and IWLCA All-East Region first team performer, earns All-America honors for the first time as well, with her first team selection. She also enjoyed a record-breaking season for Stonehill, leading the NE10 in scoring with her program-record 119 points (2nd nationally) and assists with a program record and Division II-leading 77, while her 42 goals are fifth on the team and 14th among NE10 leaders. The four-time NE10 Player of the Week and two-time IWLCA Division II Offensive Player of the Week posted just the third 100-point season in Stonehill history, leading the Conference in scoring by 27 points and assists by 31. Rudden also ranks second nationally with 3.67 assists per game and ninth with 5.67 points per game, having also contributed 33 ground balls and 14 caused turnover over her 21 starts.
Rudden, named Stonehill's Outstanding Junior Award recipient at its annual athletics awards night, matched a program record with her eight assists in Stonehill's season-opening win at Molloy College on February 27, doling out seven assists in a regular season win over then No. 2 Adelphi University on April 23. She posted a career-high ten points in the Molloy win as well as a win at Saint Michael's College on April 16 when she totaled four goals and six assists, registering multiple goals in 13 games, including a career-high five goals in a win at American International College on March 23, while dishing out three or more assists in 13 games and posting five plus points 13 times. Her assist total this spring ranks fourth on the NE10's all-time single-season list, while her point total ranks sixth.
Rudden has totaled 59 goals and 106 assists for 165 points in 34 career games, also totaling 45 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers. She will enter her senior year at Stonehill tied with her head coach for second on the program's career assists list, 22 shy of the program record of 128 by Jenny McGrath, '06. Rudden earned NE10 Academic All-Conference honors as a sophomore and is a two-time recipient of the Saint Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medal for having the highest cumulative grade point average on the team. She has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester, receiving Academic Excellence status from the NE10 for having a 4.0 semester GPA.
Rudden earns All-America first team honors after leading Division II in assists and the NE10 in scoring with program-record numbers (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Butler, an All-NE10 and IWLCA All-East Region first team selection this spring, earns All-America status for the first time with her second team selection from the IWLCA. She spearheads a Stonehill defense that ranks eighth in the NE10 for scoring defense (11.48 goals per game) and fourth in caused turnovers per game (10.7), while leading the Conference and ranking fourth nationally with 18.4 draw controls per game and third in the NE10 with 19.1 ground balls per game. Butler is third on the team with 86 draw controls (8th NE10), which ranks sixth on Stonehill's all-time single-season list, while ranking second on the team with 48 ground balls (5th) and third with 26 caused turnovers (10th). She has contributed on the offensive end with 18 goals and three assists for 21 points in 21 games played.
Butler collected a season-high nine draw controls in wins over No. 2 Le Moyne College on March 19 and Southern Connecticut State University on April 20. She finished with five-plus draws in nine games, collecting a career-high six ground balls at Lynn University on March 7 and in the NE10 Quarterfinals against No. 22 University of New Haven on May 4, posting a career-best four caused turnovers in the New Haven win as well. Butler netted multiple goals in four games, including a career-best three in wins over No. 12 Pace on April 13 and in the New Haven quarterfinal triumph.
Butler has started 31 of her 35 games played over three seasons at Stonehill, having totaled 68 ground balls, 94 draw controls and 39 caused turnovers, while adding 26 goals and three assists for 29 points. She has been named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester.
Stonehill, picked to finish ninth in the NE10 preseason coaches poll, finished its final NCAA Division II season with an 18-3 record overall, including 12-1 in the NE10 to win the Conference's regular season championship a record 12th time, adding a record tenth NE10 Tournament title on its way to earning a ninth NCAA Division II Tournament bid. The Skyhawks were the top seed for the NCAA East Regional and are ranked No. 5 in the most recent IWLCA Division II poll and No. 7 in the latest USA Lacrosse Magazine poll.
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