Somerset, NJ -- A trio of major award winners earned spots in the recordbook with the announcement of the 2022 NEC women’s soccer awards and All-Conference teams this afternoon.
 
FDU forward Aitana Martinez-Montoya (Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain/IES Ortega y Gasset M86) became the first repeat winner of the NEC Offensive Player of the Year award since it was introduced in 2017. After an outstanding year in goal, Sacred Heart goalkeeper Elyssa Kipperman (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) became the first student-athlete named both the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and the NEC Goalkeeper of the Year in the same season. And for an unprecedented fourth-straight season, Central Connecticut’s Roma McLaughlin (Donegal, Ireland/Moville Community College) was voted the NEC Midfielder of the Year.
 
High scoring Sacred Heart freshman striker Morgan Bovardi (Boxford, MA/Masconomet) was tabbed as the NEC Rookie of the Year. Merrimack head coach, Gabe Mejail was selected by his peers as NEC Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 6-2-1 conference record and a two-seed in this year’s NEC Tournament.
 
An offensive force for the Knights, Martinez-Montoya leads the NEC in goals and scoring, and ranks amongst the top-25 nationally in multiple offensive categories. The sophomore forward is currently 13th in DI in goals (12), 11th in goals per game (0.71), 24th in points (26) and 21st in points per game (1.53). The Madrid, Spain native scored at least one goal in 10 matches this season and had three game-winners during the regular season. Martinez-Montoya earned two NEC Player of the Week awards this season and was also named to the All-NEC first team for a second-straight season. She is FDU’s first-ever NEC Offensive Player of the Year award winner.
 
Backstopping the Pioneers to a 5-1-3 conference record, Kipperman was the catalyst for a defense that leads the NEC in goals against average (0.74) and total goals allowed (16). The graduate student goalkeeper has posted shutouts nine games this season, including five in conference play. Kipperman’s numbers rank alongside some of the best netminders in the nation, as she sits 14th in the NCAA in save percentage (.863) and 16th in shutouts (9). The Southbury, CT native is tied for first in the NEC in total saves made (88) and was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week four times during the regular season. She is the first player in SHU history to win either NEC Defensive Player of the Year of NEC Goalkeeper of the Year. Likewise, she is the first keeper to claim NEC DPOY accolades since 2005.
 
Since 2019, the NEC Midfielder of the Year award has been locked up by McLaughlin. The senior midfielder ranks fourth on the Blue Devils in goals (3), with two of them being game-winners. McLaughlin also helped CCSU’s defense rank second in the circuit in goals against average (1.00) and shutouts (8) on its way to a fifth straight NEC regular season title. The Donegal, Ireland native and two-time All-American became just the third NEC student-athlete to win a women’s soccer major award in four consecutive seasons, Saint Francis U’s Tesa McKibben was named the NEC Player of the Year four-straight times from 2010-2013 and CCSU’s Jennifer Cafferky was a four-time NEC Defensive Player of the Year from 2014-17. She also earned distinction as the first five-time All-NEC honoree, with all five being first team accolades.
 
Bovardi becomes the first Sacred Heart student-athlete to earn NEC Rookie the Year honors since Michelle Clarkin in 2019 and the third overall, joining Janice Rodriguez (2005). The forward leads all freshmen in goals (7) and points (16). A four-time NEC Rookie of the Week this season, Bovardi ranks second on the squad in game-winning goals (2), and is fifth in the NEC in points per game (0.84) and sixth in goals per game (0.37).
 
After leading Merrimack to a winning overall record of 8-7-3 and a 6-2-1 conference record, longtime head coach Gabe Mejail gives the Warriors their first-ever NEC major award winner. Under his guidance, the Warriors have had both a balanced attack and stout defense this season, ranking second in the NEC in goals per game (1.50) and third in goals against average (1.56). Picked sixth in the NEC preseason poll, Merrimack boosted its win total from four to eight, and earned a bye into the NEC semifinals via a second place regular season finish.
 
AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
 
CCSU landed a league-best six student-athletes on All-Conference first and second teams, with Merrimack earning five selections and Sacred Heart picking up four.
 
In addition to McLaughlin, sophomore midfielder Kristina Kelly (Rockport, ME/Camden Hills) and sophomore forward Kelly Brady (Tomkins Cove, NY/North Rockland) were repeat first team honorees and were joined by senior defender Delaney Lawler (Enfield, CT/Enfield). Brady, the 2020-21 NEC Rookie of the Year, paces the Blue Devils with six goals and 16 points, and ranks second in the NEC in points per game (1.14) and is tied for third in scoring. Kelly ranks second on CCSU in points (14) and is tied for the team lead in goals (6).
 
Saint Francis U sophomore defender Tomke Dziesiaty (Tornesch, Germany/Klaus-Groth-Schule Tornesch) made her first appearance on the All-NEC first team. Dziesiaty has been an offensive force for the Red Flash, scoring six of the team’s 19 goals on the year. The sophomore defender leads the Red Flash in goals and points (14), and ranks in the NEC top-10 in both categories.
 
Merrimack junior defender Abigail Cieri (Matawan, NJ/Saint John Vianney) was named to her second-straight All-Conference team. The junior defender is part of a Warriors’ defense that currently sits third in the NEC in goals against average (1.56).
 
Four of the 11 spots on the All-NEC second team were taken by Warriors. Sophomore forward Ella Cormier (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough), senior forward Molly Murnane (Scarborough, ME/Scarborough), senior midfielder Hallie Shiers (Gorham, ME/Gorham) and senior defender Erin Tyldesley (Grafton, MA/Grafton) all made their first appearances on an All-Conference squad. Murnane tops the Warriors in both goals (8) and points (19), while Cormier ranks second in goals (6) and points (15).
 
Sacred Heart’s Nichol Green (Shamong, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) was a second team honoree in each of the last two seasons and was named to the All-NEC first team this go-round. Green is tied for fourth on the squad in points (6) and scored a game-winning goal against Delaware earlier this season.
 
Sacred Heart senior midfielder Anna Ludkiewicz (Granby, MA/The MacDuffie School) made her second straight appearance on the All-NEC second team. Ludkiewicz paces the Pioneers in assists (3) and has helped the stingy Pioneer defense lead the NEC in fewest goals allowed (14) and goals against average (0.74).
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 42nd season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Boston (#9), Hartford/New Haven (#33) and Providence (#53). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 15 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.