HIGGINS, TULEJA EARN ECAC ALL-NEW ENGLAND LACROSSE HONORS

CENTERVILLE, Mass. – After leading the Saints to the program's first-ever conference championship and to an NCAA Tournament appearance, Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) and Kristen Tuleja (Mansfield, Mass.) received post-season Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) honors.  The duo were named to the ECAC Division III All-New England Women's Lacrosse 2nd Team.  The ECAC honored two teams of all-stars, which included five athletes representing GNAC schools, including Higgins and Tuleja.

Emmanuel's 2014 Co-Most Valuable Players led the Saints to a 15-3 overall record, which included a late-season 11-game win streak.  Tuleja, a 1st Team All-GNAC selection re-wrote the Emmanuel record books in 2014, setting new program records for goals (63), assists (31) and points (94) in a single season.  After just two seasons in the blue and gold, the sophomore, has netted 101 goals and dished out 43 assists for 144 career points.

Higgins, a 1st Team All-GNAC pick, also got her name in the record books, as she notched new programs-records for groundballs (70) and draw controls (68) in a single season.  Higgins and Tuleja were Emmanuel's leading scorers this season, combining for 107 goals and 41 assists, while also standing out on the defensive end with 110 groundballs and 60 caused turnovers.

Western New England University sophomore Taylor Scialdone (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), Amherst College senior Alex Philie (East Sandwich, Mass.) and Johnson & Wales University freshman Lydia Knapp (Glen Falls, N.Y.) headlined the 2014 ECAC Division III New England Women's Lacrosse All-Star teams, which were announced on May 29th by the Conference office. Scialdone garnered Offensive Player of the Year laurels, while Philie was chosen as the Defensive Player of the Year and Knapp earned the Rookie of the Year distinction. The voting for the 2014 ECAC Division III New England Women's Lacrosse All-Star teams and major award winners was completed by the head coaches within the ECAC Division III New England Women's Lacrosse membership. 

Scialdone finished the 2014 regular season with 48 goals and 39 assists for 87 points. She helped lead the Golden Bears to an unblemished 17-0 ledger during the regular season and the top seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) tournament. In Western New England's lone game of the CCC tournament, Scialdone netted three goals and added an assist to conclude her sophomore campaign with 91 points (51g, 40a). For her efforts, she was also named an All-CCC First Team selection for the second consecutive season and chosen as an Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-Berkshire Region Second Team member.

Philie was a mainstay in the Amherst lineup, anchoring a defensive unit that led the Jeffs to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse semifinals and a program record 19 wins. In her final season at Amherst, she finished with 33 caused turnovers, 58 draw controls and 39 ground balls. Philie also contributed on the offensive end with 28 goals and 35 points. In the NCAA tournament, she corralled eight ground balls, secured eight draw controls, caused three turnovers and also added a pair of goals and an assist. Philie was also named an IWLCA First Team All America and the inaugural recipient of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Defensive Player of the Year award.

In her first season of intercollegiate lacrosse, Knapp led the Wildcats with 78 points on 53 goals and 25 assists. She recorded at least three goals on seven separate occasions, highlighted by a seven-goal showing against Rhode Island College. Knapp finished third in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference in goals and ranked fourth in total points. She finished the season ranked No. 3 in all of NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse in draw controls, winning a total of 134 in 17 games for an average of 7.88 per contest.

Link to the Full ECAC release

2014 ECAC Division III New England Women's Lacrosse Major Award Winners

2014 ECAC Division III New England Women's Lacrosse All-Stars