Belanger earns second career selection, Nagle garners first career honor

Elizabeth Belanger helped the Skyhawks reach the NE-10 semifinal round this season, their eighth appearance in program history.

EASTON, Mass. (November 7, 2011) – Two members of the Stonehill College women's soccer team have been selected to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District Team as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) members in New England and New York. Junior back Elizabeth Belanger (Hooksett, N.H./Manchester Central) was selected to the All-District First Team, her second career selection, while classmate Sara Nagle (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) garners her first career honor on the All-District Second Team.

Belanger will now be eligible in voting for the Academic All-America team which will be announced on Wednesday, November 30 by earning All-District First Team accolades.

Belanger and Nagle were cornerstones to Stonehill's back line this season guiding the Skyhawks to 10 shutouts as a team, the best goals against average (GAA) in Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) play at 0.58 and second-best GAA overall in the NE-10 at 0.68.

Belanger, who was named to the All-District Third Team last season, holds a 3.95 grade point average (GPA) as a neuroscience major at Stonehill. For her efforts in the classroom, Belanger also earned the St. Thomas Aquinas Medal compiling the highest cumulative GPA on the women's soccer team through the Fall 2010 semester.

Belanger has also been a participant in Stonehill's Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program for the past two summers. The SURE program is a selective and rigorous summer program focused on research and data collection with the potential for students to have their work published by academic and scientific journals. SURE also allows students to gain knowledge in their major as well as help them to identify their career choices for the future, whether it be graduate school or the work force.

Nagle, a NE-10 All-Conference First Team selection this fall, makes her first appearance on the All-District squad in her second year of eligibility.

Nagle has collected many accolades through her first three seasons at Stonehill both on the pitch and in the classroom earning New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) Second Team honors, NE-10 All Conference Third Team honors and a Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award, all in 2010. Nagle was also selected to the NE-10 All-Rookie Team in 2009.

This season, Nagle became the first player in Stonehill College women's soccer program history to earn the Defensive Player of the Week award from the NE-10 on September 6 holding Nyack College and Caldwell College to just one shot on goal in a 2-0 week for the Skyhawks.

Sara Nagle was key to Stonehill posting 10 shutouts as a team this season.

Nagle, who has played and started in every game of her career at Stonehill, has participated twice in the Campus Ministry's Alternative Spring Break Program, HOPE, taking trips to Florida in 2009 and Honduras in 2010. The HOPE Program (Honoring our Neighbor, Organizing for Justice, Practicing Peace and Encountering God) sends students around the globe to assist others in disaster relief.

CoSIDA, which began its recognition of NCAA scholar-athletes in the 1950's, has honored more than 15,000 deserving athletes across all divisions in 12 sports. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Belanger and Nagle and the rest of the Stonehill College women's soccer team will now await word on a hopeful at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament which will be announced on Monday, November 7 at 7 p.m.  

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