WESTON, Mass. – Regis College senior attack Grace Politis (Billerica, Mass.) has been named the New England Collegiate Conference Player of the Year, it was announced on Monday afternoon by the league offices. Politis highlights five All-Conference selections for the Pride.
Head coach Courtney Duggan was named the NECC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season after leading the Pride to their third-straight Conference Championship and first NCAA Tournament bid. Regis posted a 13-5 overall mark this season, going an unblemished 7-0 in league games. In just two seasons, the Pride are 27-8 under Duggan.
Joining Politis on the All-NECC First Team are Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.) and Rachel Gagnon (Ashford, Conn.). Goalie Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.) and Mary Roma (Portland, Maine) earned spots on the All-Conference Honorable Mention Team.
This season, Grace Politis scored 22 goals and added five assists in NECC games. She also added 22 groundballs, 28 draw controls, and 11 caused turnovers. Overall, she ranks third in the NECC in goals (55), seventh in assists (17), fifth in points (71), fourth in groundballs (62), third in draw controls (65), and third in caused turnovers (32).
In her career, Politis currently is the all-time leader in games (67), goals (256), assists (68), points (324), caused turnovers (124), draw controls (244), and ranks second in groundballs (251). The Pride have gone 49-18 in her four years at Regis, having won three-straight NECC titles.
Sam Salamone earns her third-straight All-Conference First Team selection after leading the Pride in goals (55), assists (20), and points (75). The 2015 NECC Tournament MVP also added 58 groundballs, 51 draw controls, and 27 caused turnovers this season. In conference play, she scored 22 goals and added 12 assists for a team-high 34 points, and led the team with 29 draw controls.
Rachel Gagnon earns her first All-Conference selection after grabbing 47 groundballs, 11 draw controls, and causing 24 turnovers this season. In conference play, Gagnon had 19 groundballs to go with a pair of draw controls and 10 caused turnovers. She also scored her second career goal in a 19-0 win over Daniel Webster.
Junior Emma Decker grabs her third consecutive All-Conference selection after a First Team selection last season and an Honorable Mention nod in her freshman campaign. Decker led the NECC during conference play with a 3.59 goals-against average, a 64.3% save percentage, while making 45 saves. Overall, Decker helped backstop a Pride defense that allowed the fewest goals in the league (130) and allowed only 7.24 goals per game.
Rounding out the All-Conference selections is junior Mary Roma. This season, Roma scored three goals and added two assists to go with 30 groundballs, 30 draw controls, and nine caused turnovers. In NECC play, the junior had 12 groundballs and 16 draw controls for the Pride.
The Pride will travel to Middlebury College on Saturday afternoon for an NCAA Tournament First Round matchup against MIT at 1:00 p.m.