Leach earns NEC Player of the Week honors for the first time after leading the Skyhawks comeback win at Merrimack (PHOTO BY Craig Myers, '23) |
Leach earns NEC Player of the Week accolades for the first time, while Smith collects first NEC Defensive Player of the Week honor
NEC Women's Lacrosse Weekly Report
EASTON, Mass. (April 26, 2024) – Two key cogs in Stonehill College's 14-13 comeback triumph over Merrimack College on Wednesday to close out the regular season schedule and clinch home field advantage for the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament were honored for their efforts with weekly women's lacrosse awards from the NEC this afternoon.
Senior midfielder Lilly Leach was named the NEC Player of the Week for the first time in her career, while senior goalkeeper Claire Smith earned NEC Defensive Player of the Week accolades for the first time. The pair were also selected as NEC Prime Performers along with classmate Molly Mae Hughes. Hughes, who is also one of four Skyhawks to earn NEC Player of the Week honors this season along with Leach, picks up Prime Performer honors for a team-leading seventh week this season, while Leach earns that recognition for the third-straight week and sixth time this season overall, with Smith earning Prime Performer status for the second time this season in as many weeks.
Leach is the fourth from Stonehill to earn NEC Player of the Week honors this season, along with Hughes on April 8 and sophomores Grace Murphy and Natalie Coutu on February 26 and March 4, respectively. Leach led the Skyhawks comeback from a five-goal deficit on three different occasions at Merrimack by scoring three of her team-leading five goals in the fourth quarter after trailing by five after three quarters of play during a seven-goal run in the final frame that gave them their first lead of the day. Leach also collected a team-high six draw controls and converted all four free-position attempts, including two in the fourth quarter rally, scoring the tying goal with 4:22 to play and then a vital insurance marker with 1:29 remaining.
Leach |
Smith |
Hughes |
|
Leach has started all 16 games for Stonehill this season and leads the NEC with her 121 draw controls to rank third on the Skyhawks all-time single-season list, while ranking fifth in the Conference in scoring with 52 points and second with 46 goals scored, adding six assists, 22 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers that is good for second on the team. She has scored five goals in two-straight contests as well as three of the last four for Stonehill, having notched multiple goals in 11 games this season overall, including three-plus goals eight times.
Leach enters Sunday's NEC first round matchup having started 50 of 54 games over her Stonehill career and her 308 career draw controls are five shy of Kelsey Reilly, '13's program record total of 313. Leach has totaled 123 points with 107 goals and 16 assists, with 34 caused turnovers and 60 ground balls. Her 5.70 draw controls per game is on pace to shatter the previous mark of 4.23 by Reilly and Leach has scored 16 woman-up goals to rank second all-time in program history, while her 46 career free-position goals have broken the previous school mark of 41 by Kayla Green, '13 and Heather Sullivan, '13.
Leach, who earned Northeast-10 Conference and Division II National Offensive Player of the Week accolades once as a sophomore, earned All-NEC first team honors as a junior. She was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2022 NE10 Tournament and has been named to the NE10 and NEC Academic Honor Rolls for her performance in the classroom over her career, while majoring in biology.
Smith earns the first weekly award of her career and is Stonehill's first NEC Defensive Player of the Week since joining the Conference in 2022-23 after posting her ninth double-figure save total of the season (11th career) in Wednesday's win over Merrimack. She made five of her 11 saves in the second half, including three in the fourth quarter as Stonehill erased its third five-goal deficit with seven straight goals. She also collected two ground balls and held the Warriors to 3-for-7 shooting on free-position attempts in the game.
Smith earns NEC Defensive Player of the Week accolades for the first time after posting 11 saves on Wednesday (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Smith has started all 16 games in the Stonehill goal this season and ranks fourth among NEC leaders with her 12.70 goals against average and 9.31 saves per game, while her .457 save percentage ranks seventh. She has played 836:07 in goal and collected a team-high 42 ground balls to rank third in the NEC and seven caused turnovers. She posted a career-high 17 saves in Stonehill's 13-8 setback to LIU and has posted 15-plus saves in three games. Smith's 149 saves this season rank eighth on the program's all-time single-season list, while her 9.31 saves per game are good for third all-time.
Smith has started 26 of the 32 games she has played over her Stonehill career, including 25 of 37 over the last two years. Her 229 career saves rank eighth all-time at Stonehill, having posted a 12.45 goals against average and .438 save percentage in 1,416:52. Smith has been named to the NE10 and NEC Academic Honor Rolls over her career.
- Hughes earns NEC Prime Performer status for the tenth time in her career after contributing three goals and an assist for four points, with two draw controls in the win over Merrimack on Wednesday. She recorded a goal and assist in Stonehill's seven goal run to start the fourth quarter that erased its third five goal deficit of the day and grabbed its first lead of the day.
Stonehill (8-8, 7-3 NEC) is seeded fourth for the NEC Tournament that gets underway with first round action on Sunday. The Skyhawks, who are making their NEC postseason debut in their first season of being eligible to do so, will host fifth-seeded Saint Francis University for a first round matchup at W.B. Mason Stadium on Sunday at noon. Admission for the game is free, with the first 100 Stonehill students receiving a free NEC water bottle, and the game will also be streamed live via SkyhawksVision on NEC Front Row.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
