Maloney, Crowley, & Steele Highlight GNAC All-Conference Honors
BOSTON, Mass. - Emmanuel College Head Coach Liz Maloney has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women’s Lacrosse Coach of the Year, junior Emma Crowley (Peterborough, N.H.) the Goalkeeper of the Year, and sophomore Megan Steele (Auburn, Maine) the GNAC Rookie of the Year, it was announced by the conference office on Monday morning.
BOSTON, Mass. - Emmanuel College Head Coach Liz Maloney has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse Coach of the Year, junior Emma Crowley (Peterborough, N.H.) the Goalkeeper of the Year, and sophomore Megan Steele (Auburn, Maine) the GNAC Rookie of the Year, it was announced by the conference office on Monday morning.
Along with these major accolades, the Saints landed a record-number of eight representatives on the 2021 GNAC Women's Lacrosse All-Conference squad as Crowley, seniors Emily Saef (Moultonborough, N.H.) and Olivia Mahoney (Leominster, Mass.) and sophomore Alyssa Santangeli (Watertown, Conn.) earned GNAC First Team honors. Graduate student Allison Hutchings (Billerica, Mass.), senior Elizabeth Fortier (Newburyport, Mass.), junior Chandra Franca (Woburn, Mass.) and Steele were tabbed to the GNAC Second Team while sophomore Ali Bergin (Newbury, Mass.) was the Emmanuel representative on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team.
Maloney becomes just the second coach in program history to earn GNAC Coach of the Year honors, joining her predecessor Liz Goddard in the elite club. Like Goddard, Maloney earns the accolade in her first full season as a collegiate head coach by leading the Saints to an unbeaten 7-0 record during regular-season play. Emmanuel secured the top seed in the 2021 GNAC tournament and also garnered the No. 1 Regional Ranking in the New England region for the first time in program history during the run. Behind her guidance, a program-best eight players earned GNAC All-Conference honors including the 2021 GNAC Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Year. Maloney finished the year with an overall record of 8-1 and now boasts a 9-1 career mark (.900) since taking over the program.
Crowley earns GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year and First Team All-Conference honors following an impressive season in net for EC. The junior led the GNAC with 69 saves on the year and topped the league with a .515 save percentage, ranking 28th nationally in the category. She recorded an 8.37 goals against average to rank second in the GNAC and 31st among D-III goalies. In the 2021 GNAC Championship game, Crowley made a career-high 17 saves, one shy of the EC single-game record. She finished the season with an overall record of 8-1, leading the league in total victories while ranking 16th in the nation with an .889 winning percentage. Crowley becomes the first player in program history to garner GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year honors.
Steele enjoys GNAC Rookie of the Year recognition and Second Team All-Conference honors following a strong first full season with the Saints. The middie scored 18 goals to rank fourth on the Saints and tied for 10th in the GNAC, adding three assists to finish the year with 21 points to rank 16th in the conference. The Maine native scored in eight of nine games during the campaign including a pair of four-goal outings in wins over Johnson & Wales and Rivier. She was tabbed the GNAC Rookie of the Week during the Week 2 Report on March 29 and ended the season with 11 groundballs, five caused turnovers and four draw control wins. She becomes the program's second GNAC Rookie of the Year, joining Emily Saef '21 who earned the honor in 2019.
After making an appearance on the GNAC All-Conference Third Team in 2019, Saef earns First Team honors following a standout senior campaign. Saef led the Saints while ranking third in the GNAC with 36 goals, the 11th highest single-season mark at EC despite the abbreviated year. She added 18 assists to top the squad, rank fourth in the GNAC and 10th all-time at Emmanuel for a single campaign. Her 54 points on the year ranked fourth in the conference and is tied for ninth all-time in EC history. On top of her offensive prowess, Saef led the GNAC with 64 draw controls, ranking 20th in the country in draw controls per game with an average of 7.11 including an EC single-game record of 17 in the GNAC Semifinal victory over Anna Maria College on April 28. She joined the EC 100 point club in the regular-season finale vs. Norwich and closed the year with 14 groundballs and 11 caused turnovers.
Over her career, Saef played in and started 26 games, collecting 110 points to rank eighth all-time at EC on 81 goals (sixth all-time) and 29 assists (11th all-time). She ranks seventh all-time with 101 draw controls and added 51 groundballs and caused 29 turnovers for the Blue and Gold.
Mahoney and Santangeli both make their first appearance on the GNAC All-Conference Team with First Team accolades in the defender slot. The duo paced the Saints defensive unit that held opponents to a GNAC-low 7.44 goals per game on the season which also ranked 28th nationally among NCAA D-III programs. The Saints defense held opponents to single-digit goal totals in six consecutive games from March 31 through April 28 in which they posted a 4.67 goals against average.
Mahoney often had the task of man-marking one of the opponent's top offensive players while Santangeli was an instrumental part of the Saints defensive clear unit. Mahoney finished the season with 15 groundballs and 15 caused turnovers. Santangeli caused 18 turnovers to go along with 13 groundballs and added one goal and one assist.
Hutchings closes her EC career with GNAC Second Team All-Conference accolades after making back-to-back appearances on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team in 2018 and 2019.She became the 10th player in program history to join the 100 point club, reaching the feat in the regular-season finale vs. Norwich on April 21. Hutchings recorded at least one point in every game during her final season including seven consecutive multi-point games to close her career. She ended the slate with 22 points on 13 goals and nine assists to rank tied for ninth in the GNAC in assists, 15th in points and tied for 19th in goals.
Over her career, Hutchings played in 56 contests, earning 47 starts and registered 105 points on 57 goals and 48 assists to rank fifth all-time in career helpers and ninth in points. The Billerica native rounded out her career with 60 groundballs, 34 caused turnovers, 15 draw controls.
Fortier caps her Emmanuel tenure with Second Team honors after registering 28 points on 24 goals and four assists, ranking eighth in the GNAC in both goals scored and total points. The senior scored in every game and also scored multiple goals in eight of the nine EC matches including a career-high four goals in the Saints GNAC semifinal victory over Anna Maria on April 28. Fortier also provided great depth on the draw, tallying 41 draw controls to rank fourth in the GNAC. She added 12 groundballs and 12 caused turnovers over the campaign.
During her time at the 400 The Fenway campus, Fortier played in 40 contests, earning 38 starts and accumulated 75 points on 62 goals and 13 assists. She registered 107 draw controls to rank sixth all-time at Emmanuel and added 80 groundballs and caused 45 turnovers.
Franca rounds out the All-Conference bunch with GNAC Second Team All-Conference honors in the attack position. She closed the year with 36 points to rank sixth in the GNAC, ranking fifth in goals scored with 30 markers. 16 of her scores came on Free Position shots to lead the league while ranking sixth in the nation in Free Position Goals per game (1.78). The junior scored in all nine contests on the year and saved some of her best lacrosse for the GNAC postseason, turning in a pair of five-goal outings in both the GNAC semifinal and championship games to earn a spot on the GNAC All-Tournament team. Franca also tabbed 26 draw controls, 12 groundballs and 10 caused turnovers.
The Saints wrapped the 2021 season with an overall record of 8-1 and 4-0 in GNAC play to earn the No. 1 seed in the GNAC tournament field. The Saints opened the slate with an 8-0 mark for the best start in program history only to fall to No. 3 Johnson & Wales University in the GNAC Championship game, 16-12. Despite the upset, the Saints closed out the year ranked No. 4 in the New England Regional Rankings.