Westfield, Mass. — Bella Eduardo of Westfield State has earned the 2017 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Year honors and headlines the 2017 MASCAC First Team All-Conference squad which is voted on by the coaches from around the conference.

 

Eduardo, a sophomore from Springfield, Mass., earns her second straight major MASCAC award after being named the Rookie of the Year in 2016. This year, she helped the Owls to a 6-1 league record and the second seed in the conference tournament. Throughout the regular season, Eduardo netted 12 goals and six assists for 30 points which were all in the top three of the conference. She also registered three game-winning goals and was 2-for-2 on penalty kicks. 

 

Joining teammate Eduardo is Westfield State’s Lydia Kinsman as the 2017 MASCAC Women’s Soccer Rookie of the Year. The freshman defender from Granville, Mass., helped an Owls defense that limited opponents to a 1.00 goals against average, .108 shooting percentage and only 77 shots on goal all season. She tallied two goals and four assists for eight points on the offensive side. 

 

Nicolle Wood of Salem State was voted by her peers as the 2017 Champion’s Choice Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year after leading the Vikings to a 4-3 record in MASCAC play and the fourth seed in the MASCAC Tournament.

 

Sitting on the MASCAC First Team with Eduardo and Kinsman are Courtney Pepin, Molly Shield and Nicole Simas of Bridgewater State, Megan Richardson of MCLA, Ashley Leboeuf of Salem State, Rene Hamel, Caitlyn MacGregor and Marissa McGue of Westfield State and Justine Butler of Worcester State.

 

Earning a spot on the MASCAC Second Team are Kaitlyn Bongarzone and Lauren DeSousa of Bridgewater State, Erin Angelillo, Caitlyn Maloney of MCLA, Madison Taylor of Massachusetts Maritime, Kaitlyn Curley and Mikayla Porcaro of Salem State and Kaitlin Beluzo, Maddie Fong, Tsara LeBlanc and Jenna Martin of Worcester State.