Click Here For PDF Release

Somerset, NJ -- The Northeast Conference (NEC) announced its 2018 women’s lacrosse major award winners and All-Conference selections tonight, highlighted by Bryant junior attack Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai) repeating as NEC Offensive Player of the Year and Mount St. Mary’s junior goalkeeper Jillian Petito’s (Ocean City, MD/Stephen Decatur) unanimous selection as NEC Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Wagner, the NEC co-regular season champion, and Mount St. Mary’s each took home two of the five major awards, which were announced at the annual pre-tournament banquet hosted this year by top-seeded Bryant in Smithfield, RI.
 
Wagner senior midfielder Lauren Ednie (Verona, NJ/Verona) collected NEC Midfielder of the Year honors and fellow Seahawk Ally Alliegro (Bayport, NY/Bayport Blue Point) was unanimously tabbed the NEC Rookie of the Year. Lauren Schwarzmann of Mount St. Mary’s was voted NEC Coach of the Year by her peers.
 
Bryant has now won five straight NEC Offensive Player of the Year awards with DeMeo’s back-to-back accolades. The junior leads the NEC and ranks 19th nationally with 3.44 goals per game. DeMeo is also the league leader with 1.50 free position goals per outing, a figure that ranks her fourth in the country. Likewise, she sits third on the conference circuit with 3.94 points per outing. With 55 goals on the year, the Mount Sinai, NY product has boosted her career total to 155 in three seasons. DeMeo, who was also the 2016 NEC Rookie of the Year, was named the NEC Player of the Week a league-high four times this spring for the NEC co-regular season champs. Lisa Vendela (2014), Lauren Descalzo (2015) and Nicole Britton (2016) are Bryant’s previous NEC Player of the Year honorees.
 
Petito was a unanimous selection for NEC Defensive Player of the Year following a stellar season between the pipes for the Mountaineers, who claimed the fourth seed in this week’s NEC Championship. An All-NEC second-teamer a year ago, Petito ranks second in the NCAA in save percentage (.561), fourth in goals against average (8.51) and seventh in saves per game (11.00), and is the current NEC leader in all three categories. The Ocean City, MD native was the lone NEC netminder to record a shutout this season and was a two-time NEC Defensive Player of the Week. Petito is the fifth Mount player to collect NEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining Jacqui Ricca (2007), Aly Jost (2009 & 2011) and Melissa Cox (2015).
 
Ednie joined Wagner all-time great and two-time winner Shea Gegan (2015 & 2016) as NEC Midfielder of the Year award recipients. A dominant force at both ends of the field, the senior ranks fourth in the NEC in both goals per game (2.56) and ground balls per game (2.88), and is seventh in points per game (3.06). A second-team all-NEC selection last season, Ednie leads Wagner in goals (41), free position goals (11), ground balls (46) and caused turnovers (24), and ranks second in draw controls (43).
 
Alliegro exploded onto the scene this year culminating in her selection as Wagner’s first-ever NEC Rookie of the Year. The freshman midfielder was named the NEC Rookie of the Week a conference-high five times and was also the lone freshman to earn an NEC Player of the Week award back on April 30th. Alliegro leads the Seahawks with 52 points and 48 draw controls, and ranks second in goals (34) and free position goals (10). The Bayport, NY native is also fourth in the NEC in points per game (3.47), fifth in goals per game (2.27) and sixth in assists per game (1.20).
 
Schwarzmann led the Mountaineers to double-digit wins for the first time since the 2007 season, and the team’s 5-2 NEC mark was the best for the program since 2015. The Mount will head into Thursday’s NEC semifinal game with top-seeded Bryant with plenty of confidence, having taken down the Bulldogs, 12-6, in its regular season final on Sunday. Now in her fourth year, Schwarzmann built a stifling defense unit this season as evidenced by the Mount’s league-leading 8.51 GAA on the year.
 
AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
 
Bryant led the way with three All-NEC first team selections and seven All-NEC honorees overall. Wagner also placed three on the first team and landed five All-Conference honorees. Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart each had three players tabbed to All-NEC teams.
 
Bryant’s Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai) made her third consecutive All-NEC appearance and earned her second-straight All-NEC first team accolade. Teammate Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach), a sophomore, joined DeMeo on the All-NEC first team for the second time in as many years. Junior midfielder Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional) paces the Bulldogs with 37 ground balls and her 67 draw controls is second on the team.
 
Wagner’s Lauren Ednie (Verona, NJ/Verona) was joined on the All-NEC first team by two teammates in junior attacker Anna Belle Reilly (Paradise Valley, AZ/Notre Dame Prep) and junior defender Maddie Courtney (Columbia, MD/Marriots Ridge). Reilly ranks second in the NEC with 1.81 assists per game, while Courtney is second on the Seahawks in ground balls (43) and caused turnovers (23).
 
Robert Morris claimed the third seed in the NEC Tournament with senior midfielder Dana Davis (Garnet Valley, PA/Garnet Valley) leading the way for the Colonials. In earning her third All-NEC honor and second straight first team appearance, the Garnet Valley, PA product ranked second on the team in draw controls (45), and third in caused turnovers (18) and ground balls (29), while contributing 20 goals. RMU junior attack Shannon Lynch (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) and sophomore defender Kelly Colegrove (Marriottsville, MD/Marriots Ridge) both earned All-NEC recognition for the first time with their selections to the first team. Lynch leads the Colonials in goals (23), assists (23) and points (46), while Colegrove tops the NEC and ranks 18th nationally with 2.0 caused turnovers per game.
 
Saint Francis U landed senior midfielder Jessica Mazzur (Dallastown, PA/York Catholic) and sophomore defender Peyton LeConte (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron) on the All-NEC first team. Mazzur ranks in the NEC top-five in points (3.94, second), goals (2.71, third) and assists (1.24, fifth) per game to lead the Red Flash in each category. LeConte is second in the league in both ground balls per game (3.13) and caused turnovers (1.87) per game. Those figures rank her 15th and 22nd, respectively, in the country.
 
The future looks bright for LIU Brooklyn thanks to twin sisters Amanda and Rachel Masullo (Selden, NY/Centereach). Both were tabbed to the NEC All-Rookie team with Amanda Masullo also picking up All-NEC second team honors as well. The duo combined for 57 goals and 80 points on the year.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 37th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#22), Baltimore (#26), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.