Bridgewater, NJ -- With the women's soccer regular season coming to an end, the announcement of the 2024 NEC women's soccer major awards and All-Conference teams saw regular season champion Howard make a major splash.

In a near sweep, the Bison collected five of the six major honors, as voted by the league's head coaches.

The lone exception was the NEC Offensive Player of the Year award, which went to Stonehill junior forward Hannah Anselmo (Fall River, MA/Bishop Connolly), marking the first-ever major award winner for the Skyhawks. Anselmo emerged as an offensive force, helping boost the Skyhawks from a ninth place finish in 2023 to a third place showing this season and the program's initial NEC Tournament appearance. Individually, the junior's offensive prowess was unparalleled. She leads the conference in goals (8) and points (22), and is tied for the league lead in assists. Anselmo, a local product out of Fall River, MA, had a hand in more than half of Stonehill's goals this season and netted three game-winners.

NEC Defensive Player of the Year honors went to Howard's Rachel Suttle (Smyrna, GA/ Holy Innocents' Epsicopal School), a redshirt junior who started all 18 games for a Bison defense that conceded a league-low six goals against NEC rivals. The stonewall defender was part of a back line that posted eight clean sheets on the season, seven of which were in conference play. In addition to her defensive strengths, Suttle also showed off her attacking threat by scoring thee goals on the season. Suttle, a Smyrna, GA native, became the first Howard player to capture the DPOY award.

Building on her standout All-Rookie campaign, sophomore Samantha James (Herndon, VA/Oakton) played a critical role in Howard's success this season, and her exceptional playmaking skills earned her the NEC Midfielder of the Year award. James, whose five assists is tied for fourth on the circuit, ranks in the NEC top-10 in each of three major offensive categories, She also wrapped the regular seaosn sixth in points (13) and ninth in goals (four). The midfield maestro from Herndon, VA is the first player from Howard to receive this honor.

Tending the net behind Suttle and the rest of the back line was Howard sophomore Trinity Knox (Atlanta, GA/Woodward Academy), who repeated as NEC Goalkeeper of the Year after a fantastic year between the pipes. She posted six shutouts and allowed only six goals across 10 league fixtures. She boasted the third-best goals against average (1.158) and save percentage (.765) among NEC keepers overall, and was even better in conference matches, recording a 0.612 GAA and .824 save percentage. The Atlanta, GA native received NEC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice on the season and is now a two-time first team All-NEC honoree.

Howard's first NEC Rookie of the Year accolade was awarded to freshman forward Gabriella Garcia-Terrell (Centreville, VA/Westfield). Starting all 18 games for the Bison, Garcia-Terrell established herself as an offensive threat, recording 13 points, coming from five goals and three assists. She leads all NEC freshmen and ranks third overall in points and she is fourth in the conference in goals. Garcia-Terrell had a knack for heroics, scoring three game-winning goals on the year, a feat that led the NEC.
She was the lone freshman to be named first team All-Conference.

Leading Howard to its first NEC regular season title and the top seed in the NEC Tournament, head coach Brent Leiba made history by becoming the program's inaugural NEC Coach of the Year. Leiba, in his 15th season at the helm, coached his team to an 8-1-1 conference record and 9-4-5 overall mark. Under his guidance, the Bison led the NEC in goals scored (29), goals per match (1.61), goals allowed (20) and GAA (1.111). Howard, which recorded eight clean sheets this season, heads into the postseason on a nine-match unbeaten streak (8-0-1) during which the Bison conceded just three goals.

AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
 
Howard claimed the most All-Conference first and second team honors with six, followed by FDU (four) and Stonehill (three). LIU, Mercyhurst, Saint Francis U and Wagner each had a pair of honorees, while CCSU had one award receipient.
 
Along with four major award winners who earned All-NEC recognition, Howard senior striker Melea Earley (La Mirada, CA/La Sema) and senior midfielder Zoe Moore (Lutz, FL/Academy at the Lakes) were named to the All-Conference second team. Earley, a repeat honoree who has scored four times this season, was a first team selection in 2023 and was also named to the 2023 NEC All-Tournament team.
 
A quartet of FDU's All-Conference performers were selected to the first team, each adding to their growing resumes. Sophomore forward Ana Salas (Madrid, Spain/Liceo Italiano) followed up her second team All-NEC campaign with five goals and a league-leading six assists this fall, helping the Knights secure the third seed in the NEC Tournament. Junior defender Andrea Ougaard (Roskilde, Denmark/Roskilde Katedralskole) also earned a promotion from the second team, while fellow back Mona Schlegl (Marburg, Germany/Martin-Luther) was voted to the All-Rookie squad in 2022. Sophomore midfielder Laura Martinez (Palma de Mallorca, Spain/Colegio Santa Teresa) was named to the 2023 NEC All-Rookie Team.

Stonehill senior midfielder Grace Caso (Ellington, CT/Suffield Academy) and sophomore defender Lily Roslonek (Dedham, MA/Dedham) joined Anselmo as the first Skyhawks to be named NEC all-stars in their brief tenure in the conference. Both collected second-team accolades, while Erin Foley (Foxborough, MA/Foxborough), the leading freshman goal scorer in the conference with six markers, earned a spot on the All-Rookie team.

Mercyhurst also featured a pair of second-team All-NEC players in their inaugural conference season: redshirt freshman forward Madison Sievering (Cincinnati, OH/Summit Country Day) and graudate student midfielder Emily Mijares (Brooklin, Ontario/Father Leo J Austin CSS).
  
Wagner graduate student Kayla Barbosa (Hackettstown, NJ/Jefferson Township), who made a name for herself with a series of clutch performances during the 2023 NEC Tournament, repeated as a first team All-Conference honoree. The Seahawks' second place regular season finish was its best since the 2014 season.

Saint Francis U senior midfielder Lauren Pyle (Lititz, PA/Warwick) and CCSU junior defender Kiley Yepes (West Hartford, CT/Conard) also became multiple-time All-Conference award recipients. Pyle added a first team accolade to the second team honors she received last year, while Yepes earned a spot on the All-NEC second team for the second consecutive season.

Seven schools were featured on the NEC All-Rookie team, including three honorees from Wagner and two apiece from FDU and CCSU.
  
About The Northeast Conference

Now in its 44th season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#8). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#87). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.