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Bridgewater, NJ — Two teams rose to the top of the NEC women's lacrosse standings when the dust settled on the 2026 regular season and it's only fitting that those squads were dually rewarded — and well-represented — on the postseason awards podium. 
 
Co-champs Le Moyne and Stonehill, which finished in a deadlock for first place in the league standings with respective 8-1 marks against conference competitors, combined to claim five of the NEC's six major awards. 
 
After a one-year hiatus, the NEC Offensive Player of the Year award returns to Stonehill as veteran Grace Murphy (Kearsage, NH/Holderness School), the core of a Skyhawks' attack that annihilated defenses by dropping 16.89 goals per game on league foes, pocketed the prestigious honor. 
 
Le Moyne senior Jane Austenfeld (Lisle, NY/Whitney Point), the main attraction of a smothering Dolphins' back line that topped the circuit in 2026, was on the receiving end of the esteemed NEC Defensive Player of the Year award.
 
The historic awards' haul didn't halt there for Le Moyne, though. Junior Amanda Manfredi (East Islip, NY/East Islip) walked away with NEC Goalkeeper of the Year distinction while head coach Liz Beville, who alongside assistants Allyson Trice and former Dolphin netminder Paige Crandall guided the program to its first-ever NEC regular season crown, garnered NEC Coaching Staff of the Year recognition.
 
Bursting onto the scene as the league's top-scoring freshman, midfielder Sophia Gouveia (North Stonington, CT/Wheeler) doubled Stonehill's award count when she was named the NEC Rookie of the Year. 
 
Two-time defending NEC Tournament champion LIU also cashed in on the postseason awards when senior Julia Trainor (Billerica, MA/Billerica Memorial), a true "jill of all trades" for the Sharks, retained the title of NEC Midfielder of the Year for the second-straight year.
 
Murphy's prowess in the attacking third allowed the NEC Offensive Player of the Year trophy to return to Easton, MA for the second time in the past three years. Stonehill has been the league's offensive juggernaut every year since coming aboard for the 2022-23 campaign, and with Murphy acting as the focal point of a unit that put up 14.12 scorers per game, the Skyhawks kept that tradition going once again in 2026. The Kearsage, NH native pumped in an NEC-leading and career-high 57 goals, including 35 during the nine-game conference slate, to pilot her team to a share of the NEC regular season crown for the second-consecutive year. Finding the back of the net in each of Stonehill's 17 games this season, Murphy racked up 10 hat tricks in her senior campaign. She enters postseason play on an absolute tear, netting five-or-more goals in five of Stonehill's last six regular season contests to average 4.8 scores per contest in that stretch. Murphy's name is also inked in the national statistics as she is currently ranked 15th among all NCAA Division I players in total goals and 18th in goals per game. 
 
Austenfeld served as the centerpiece of a suffocating Le Moyne defense that silenced several of the league's top scoring threats on the regular. The Lisle, NY product helped the Dolphins' back line limit six of nine NEC opponents to single digit goal totals in a stretch that included a near shutout of Mercyhurst on March 25 and a lockdown defensive performance in what proved to be a pivotal 11-9 win against Stonehill, a squad that dropped a league-leading 16.89 scores per game on NEC squads, on March 14. Often tasked with the toughest defensive assignments, Austenfeld caused 14 turnovers to rank second among fellow Dolphins, while her 22 ground balls were good for third on the squad.
 
Trainor becomes the third NEC player to run it back as Midfielder of the Year since the inception of the award in 2015, joining former Wagner standouts Shea Gegan (2015, 2016) and Erin Kerstetter (2019, 2021). Since making her LIU debut in 2023, the versatile senior from Billerica, MA has been a mainstay — and a force to be reckoned with — between the 30s. Racking up 23 caused turnovers, the fourth-most in the league, while ranking third with 39 ground balls, she was also a fierce competitor on draws this season after winning 3.06 per contest. As if all that wasn't impressive enough, Trainor, who has topped the Sharks' scoring charts in each of the past two years, became even more of a threat on offense in her final season in Brookville, upping her average of 1.95 goals per game in 2025 to 2.69 scores per contest in 2026. She closed out the regular season ranked fifth in goals per game and sixth in points per game (3.50). In addition to her multiple NEC Midfielder of the Year awards, Trainor adds another bullet to her résumé with her fourth All-NEC First Team nod. 
 
Manfredi was an impenetrable force between the pipes, and her numbers, which stack up as some of the best in the nation, can prove that fact. Boasting an NEC-best 8.02 goals-against average and .493 save percentage after compiling 113 stops in over 868 minutes of competition, the East Islip, NY native ranks 11th in NCAA Division I in both statistical categories. She is the first-ever NEC Goalkeeper of the Year award winner to hail from Le Moyne in the team's three-year tenure in the conference.
 
The ball tickled the twine often when it was rifled out of Gouveia's stick as the first-year middie racked up 39 goals with a whopping nine hat tricks in 17 of her starts. Gouveia opened her career with three-goal efforts in three of her first four games — including a hat trick in her first-ever collegiate game at Boston University on Feb. 11 — and never looked back from there. Claiming her inaugural NEC Rookie of the Week distinction following the aforementioned back-to-back three-goal games against Rhode Island (Feb. 18) and Merrimack (Feb. 21), she quickly solidified a spot as one of the league's most dominant newcomers by running it back as the league's top rookie two more times. The NEC Rookie of the Week awards piled up as quickly as the Nutmeg State native's season goal total as she earned the honor eight times throughout the course of the 11-week campaign. That mark smashed the previous conference-best total of six, which was set by Merrimack's Lindsay Atkinson in 2024. Putting up numbers that are good for fifth and eighth in the league in goals per game (2.29) and goals, respectively, Gouveia has emerged as one of the nation's top-scoring rookies, ranking fifth among all NCAA Division I freshmen in both categories. She is the first Skyhawk in program history to be named NEC Rookie of the Year.
 
A storied Dolphins' squad with a long tradition of winning wasted little time to make a splash in the NEC. In their third year with the league, and their seventh with Beville at the reins, Le Moyne, which previously claimed four regular season titles during its time in the MAAC and seven as a member of the Northeast 10, will be hanging the program's first-ever NEC regular season banner in the rafters after coming out of conference play with a nearly unscathed mark of 8-1. The success went beyond the circuit for the top-seeded Dolphins in 2026, though. Posting a 13-3 overall record, the club pocketed the most wins by an NEC team since 2022, while its' .812 winning percentage marked the best win rate by a conference member in half a decade. Beville's team packs a serious punch on both ends of the field. Dropping 13.78 scores a game on league competitors, Le Moyne's stingy defense piloted the Dolphins to the pinnacle of the NEC by limiting conference foes to a league-best 7.53 goals per contest. This marks the second time that Beville has been recognized by her peers as the league's top coach, as she was pegged the NE-10 Coach of the Year in 2021.

In addition to the six major awards winners, the league unveiled its All-NEC first and second teams and All-Rookie squad, as determined by a vote of the league's head coaches.
 
AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
 

• Le Moyne had seven standouts earn All-NEC distinction, while Stonehill followed suit with six honorees.
• Regular season co-champions Le Moyne and Stonehill landed a league-best four All-NEC first team selections apiece.
• FDU, which is postseason bound for the first time since joining the league in 2023, produced a program-best four All-NEC selections after junior attack Karly Dillabough (Syracuse, NY/Westhill), junior midfielder Nora Codianni (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach), senior midfielder Brielle McInaw (Kresgeville, PA/Pleasant Valley) and junior defender Kendal Hippert (Easton, PA/Notre Dame Green Pond) earned spots on the second team. 
• Eleven student-athletes that garnered NEC All-NEC distinction in 2025 maintained their all-star status in 2026. 
• Four of LIU's five All-NEC selections were voted to all-conference squads last season, including Trainor, who has received All-NEC First Team plaudits in each of her four years as a collegian.
• A pair of Skyhawks added their third all-conference awards to their respective résumés. Senior attack Natalie Coutu (Brookline, NH/Bishop Guertin), who ranked in the league's top-10 in goals per game (2.33 – 7th), points per game (4.07 – 4th) and assists per game (1.73 – 3rd), made it back-to-back first team nods in 2025 and 2026 after she earned second team distinction in 2024. Murphy, a two-time second team member in 2024 and 2025, elevated her status to first team in 2026. 
• FDU's McInaw inked her name on an All-NEC list for the third time in her career. The midfielder made the cut for the second team as a rookie in 2023 before she earned consecutive first team votes in 2025 and 2026.
• Pacing the circuit in scoring with 3.53 goals per contest, Mercyhurst senior attack and 2025 NEC Player of the Year Whitley Easton (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) made it back-to-back first team selections this season. She is the first-ever Laker to repeat as an All-NEC selection.
• Two former second teamers were promoted to the first team this season: LIU senior attack Selia Lyons (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) and Wagner senior defender Erin Rooney (Arthur, Ontario/Wellington Heights Secondary).
• Gouveia was the lone rookie to make an appearance on the league's first team, while Wagner sophomore midfielder Sydney Mulroony (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Hills), a three-time NEC Defensive Player of the Week, was the only other underclassmen represented on the All-NEC First Team.
• In its inaugural season as an NEC member, New Haven landed three second teamers. Highlighting the list was senior attack Caitlin Seleny (Derry, NH/Pinkerton), who topped the league's charts in points per game (5.36) and assists per game (3.79).

 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 45th season, the NEC is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of ten 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 (#9). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#88). 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, New Haven, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league's official website (www.necsports.com) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.
  
2026 NEC Women's Lacrosse Award Winners

Offensive Player of the Year
Grace Murphy             Stonehill              A      Sr.     Kearsarge, NH/Holderness School
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Jane Austenfeld          Le Moyne               D      Sr.     Lisle, NY/Whitney Point
 
Midfielder of the Year
Julia Trainor            LIU                    MF     Sr.     Billerica, MA/Billerica Memorial

Goalkeeper of the Year 
Amanda Manfredi          Le Moyne               GK     Jr.     East Islip, NY/East Islip

Rookie of the Year
Sophia Gouveia           Stonehill              MF     Fr.     North Stonington, CT/Wheeler

Coaching Staff of the Year
Liz Belville             Le Moyne               Seventh season
Assistant Coaches: Allyson Trice & Paige Crandall
 
2026 NEC Women's Lacrosse First Team All-Conference

Name                     School                 Pos    Yr      Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Natalie Coutu            Stonehill              A      Sr.     Brookline, NH/Bishop Guertin
Whitley Easton           Mercyhurst             A      Sr.     Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima
Selia Lyons              LIU                    A      Sr.     Miller Place, NY/Miller Place
Grace Murphy             Stonehill              A      Sr.     Kearsarge, NH/Holderness School
Francesca Tortora        Le Moyne               A      Gr.     Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse (Stony Brook)
Maddi Barney             Le Moyne               MF     Jr.     Lorraine, NY/South Jefferson
Sophia Gouveia           Stonehill              MF     Fr.     North Stonington, CT/Wheeler
Syndey Mulroony          Wagner                 MF     So.     Rockaway, NJ/Morris Hills
Julia Trainor            LIU                    MF     Sr.     Billerica, MA/Billerica Memorial
Jane Austenfeld          Le Moyne               D      Sr.     Lisle, NY/Whitney Point
Ashley Magee             LIU                    D      R-Sr.   Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman
Ellison O'Shea           Stonehill              D      So.     Spring Lake Heights, NJ/Manasquan
Erin Rooney              Wagner                 D      Sr.     Arthur, Ontario/Wellington Heights Secondary
Katie Ventresca          Le Moyne               D      Jr.     Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta Senior
Amanda Manfredi          Le Moyne               GK     Jr.     East Islip, NY/East Islip
    
2026 NEC Women's Lacrosse Second Team All-Conference

Name                     School                 Pos    Yr      Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Karly Dillabough         FDU                    A      Jr.     Syracuse, NY/Westhill
Olivia Lockwood          Le Moyne               A      R-Jr.   Syracuse, NY/West Genesee (Onondaga CC)
Lindsey Lucia            LIU                    A      Sr.     Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point
Caitlin Seleny           New Haven              A      Sr.     Derry, NH/Pinkerton
Julia Blakeslee          Le Moyne               MF     Jr.     Ithaca, NY/Ithaca
Summer Castiglione       New Haven              MF     Sr.     Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial
Nora Codianni            FDU                    MF     Jr.     Long Beach, NY/Long Beach
Erin Harkins             LIU                    MF     Sr.     Floral Park, NY/Floral Park Memorial
Brielle McInaw           FDU                    MF     Sr.     Kresgeville, PA/Pleasant Valley
Kristina Pisano          Wagner                 MF     Sr.     Needham, MA/Needham
Kate Foster              Le Moyne               D      So.     Sweaburg, Ontario/St. Mary's Catholic
Kendal Hippert           FDU                    D      Jr.     Easton, PA/Notre Dame Green Pond
Karlie Maye              New Haven              D      So.     New City, NY/Clarkstown South
Lauren Molinaro          Stonehill              D      Sr.     Miller Place, NY/Miller Place
Nina Tremonte            Stonehill              GK     Jr.     Brookfield, CT/Brookfield

2026 NEC Women's Lacrosse All-Rookie Team

Name                     School                 Pos    Yr      Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Ainsley Bourbeau         New Haven              GK     Fr.     Willington, CT/E.O. Smith
Sophia Gouveia           Stonehill              MF     Fr.     North Stonington, CT/Wheeler
Taylor Green             Stonehill              A      Fr.     Pelham, NY/Pelham Memorial
Katie Harbold            Le Moyne               D      Fr.     Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse
Sophia Lima              Howard                 A      Fr.     Altadena, CA/Crescenta Valley
Amaya Monacelli          Central Connecticut    A      Fr.     Moscow, PA/North Pocono