Field Hockey Takes Home Five Major Awards To Highlight CNE Postseason Awards
BEVERLY, Mass. - The Endicott field hockey team has claimed 14 total awards between nine different members in this season's Conference of New England (CNE) Postseason Awards, as announced by the league office on Thursday afternoon.
BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott field hockey team has claimed 14 total awards between nine different members in this season's Conference of New England (CNE) Postseason Awards, as announced by the league office on Thursday afternoon.
The Gulls earned five of the six major awards in the conference. In total, five Gulls were named to the First Team, three were named to the Second Team, and one to the Community Service Team.
Junior forward Tori Swanson (Farmington, Conn.) and senior midfielder Maddy Young (Hingham, Mass.) garnered the CNE's Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honors, respectively. Freshman defender Riley Perkins (Lakeville, Mass.) was named Rookie of the Year, while fellow freshman Faith Minickene (Madison, Conn.) earned the conference's inagural Goalie of the Year award.
Head Coach Jodi Cipolla rounded out the list of major individual award winners with her sixth career conference Coach of the Year award (2008, 2012, 2017, 2019, and 2022).
Additionally, Brooke Yabroudy (Nashua, N.H.) was named as the Gulls' representative on the CNE's Community Service Team, which highlights one student-athlete per institution who demonstrates a commitment to their community.
The remaining award winners for the Gulls included:
ALL-CNE FIRST TEAM
F -Tori Swanson (Farmington, Conn.)
M - Maddy Young (Hingham, Mass.)
GK - Faith Minickene (Madison, Conn.)
At-Large - Reagan Hicks (Barnstable, Mass.)
At-Large - Riley Perkins (Lakeville, Mass.)
ALL-CNE SECOND TEAM
F - Maddy Dengler (Winchester, Mass.)
D - Natalia Correia (Tyngsboro, Mass.)
At-Large - Kathleen Reissfelder (Westwood, Mass.)
MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
TORY SWANSON | JR. | F | Farmington, Conn.
Offensive Player of the Year | All-CNE First Team
Swanson becomes the 11th player in program history to acheive conference Offensive Player of the Year honors. The Gulls have won the award for the sixth consecutive year and she joins Kristen McCarthy '20 (Danvers, Mass.) as the only two student-athletes to receive the honor twice in their careers.
The junior forward has been a consistent factor in Gulls' offense throughout the entirety of 2024 season. She ranks tops for the Gulls in goals (29), points (63), and game-winning goals (eight) this season. Across Division III Swanson currently ranked first in Goals Per Game with 1.61 and tied for first in Points Per Game with 3.5.
This season, Swanson has tallied eight multi-goal efforts and her goal-scoring ability has her tied for first in a season for goals and second behind McCarthy for points in a season. The Farmington, Conn native's knack for coming up big in the clutch was an important part of the Gulls securing an undefeated conference record and No. 1 in the CNE tournament.
This is Swanson's second career All-Conference First-team honor.
MADDY YOUNG | SR. | M | Hingham, Mass.
Defensive Player of the Year | All-CNE First Team
Young is the sixth player in program history to be named Conference Defensive Player of the Year. This is the third consecutive year the Gulls have received this honor as Rachel Lemay '23 (Westminster, Mass.) and Meghan Lehouiller '24 (Colchester, Vt.) won the award the previous two years.
Young has established herself as an important part of the Gulls midfield and defense as opponents often have a difficult time moving the ball through the midfield with her patrolling the area. She has been a model of consistency this season for the Gulls as she has started in all 19 games for the Gulls and dating back to last season has played in and started all 40 games.
The Winchester, Mass. native owns the single-season record for defensive saves with 11 and has three games this season with two or more. Her 11 defensive saves rank sixth nationally across Division II and second in the CNE. Offensively, Young scored her first career goal against Wellesley and has set a new career high in assists with three.
This marks Young's second career All-Conference team and first All-Conference First Team honor.
FAITH MINICKENE | FR. | GK | Madison, Conn.
Goalkeeper of the Year | All-CNE First Team
Minickene is the first ever CNE Goalkeeper of the Year in program history.
Over the 13 games in which the freshman started, the Gulls have an 11-2 record and an .850 save percentage. This season, Minickene has five games with 10 or more saves, including 26 against the Panthers, which ranks second all-time in program history for saves in a game.
Her save percentage ranks first in the conference and seventh nationally. The Madison, Conn. native also recorded a 1.66 goals against average this season including two shutouts, which ranked second in the CNE.
During the season, Minickene was picked twice named CNE Rookie of the Week (9/23 and 10/21) and was named Defensive Player of the Week on 9/23.
The First-Team All-Conference honor is the first of Minickene's career.
RILEY PERKINS | FR. | D | Lakeville, Mass.
Rookie of the Year | All-CNE First Team
Perkins is the eighth player in program history to be named Conference Rookie of the Year. This is the third consecutive year Endicott has won Rookie of the Year honors and just the second defender along with Abby Antonelli (Worcester, Mass.) last season.
The freshman has been a key defender all season for the Gulls, playing in all 19 games and starting in 18 of them.
Perkins scored her only goal this seaso in a rematch of last seasons conference championship game against Roger Williams when she scored a penalty stroke to put the Gulls up 3-1 in the fourth quarter. The Lakeville, Mass. native also recorded a defensive save in the second quarter of the contest to keep the Gulls up 1-0. Perkins added her second defensive save of the season in the CNE semifinal to keep the Nor'Easters off the scoreboard early in the contest.
This is Perkins' first All-Conference First-team in her career.
JODI CIPOLLA | Head Coach | 18th Season
Coach of the Year
Head Coach Jodi Cipolla guided Endicott to the best record in the conference, going 14-4 overall and 5-0 in the CNE.
Under the leadership of Cipolla, the Gulls posted their best record since the 2019 season, when they posted a 12-0 record in league play.
As a team, the Gulls rank first in the conference in Goals Per Game (4.39), Points Per Game (11.33), Assists Per Game (2.56), and Scoring Margin (2.78). Nationally in those categories, Endicott ranks fourth in both Goals Per Game and Points Per Game to go with 3rd in Scoring Average.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (14-5) fell to UNE in the CNE Semifinal, 3-2 on Wednesday night. The Gulls await the announcement of a potential at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Gulls are positioned No. 21 in the latest NPI rankings (11/5).
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)