Three Gulls Highlight CCC All-Conference Honorees
BEVERLY, Mass. – Nine members of the Endicott women's lacrosse team have earned Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) postseason honors, as announced by the league earlier today.
BEVERLY, Mass. – Nine members of the Endicott women's lacrosse team have earned Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) postseason honors, as announced by the league earlier today.
Headlining the group of award winners were senior goalie Lydia Akins (Edina, Minn.), freshman attacker Emerson Clark (Gloucester, Mass.), and head coach Maureen Spellman.
Akins was named the CCC Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Clark was named CCC Rookie of the Year.
Akins is now the fifth straight honoree to earn the award for the Gulls and the fourth student-athlete in program history win Defensive Player of the Year twice in their career joining Kelsey Barnes (Mendham, N.J.), Bella Rino (Northborough, Mass.), and Gabriella Prisco (West Haven, Conn.).
Clark is the third student-athlete to be named CCC Rookie of the Year in program history along with Jennifer Lacroix (Wrentham, Mass.) and Emily Whitney (Rye, N.H.).
Meanwhile, Spellman claimed her third career and second consecutive CCC Coach of the Year award (2019, 2023, 2024) after leading Endicott to an 7-1 conference record and the No. 2 seed in the league tournament this season.
The remaining award winners for the Gulls include:
ALL-CCC FIRST TEAM
A – Emerson Clark (Gloucester, Mass.)
A – Kiana Napolitano (Revere, Mass.)
D – Matilda Darrah (Dover, N.H.)
D – Lily Troupe (Newburyport, Mass.)
G – Lydia Akins (Edina, Minn.)
ALL-CCC SECOND TEAM
M – Jaira Paine (Granby, Conn.)
M – Mia Smith (Portsmouth, N.H.)
ALL-CCC THIRD TEAM
M – Clare Wendell (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.)
D – Sophie Spaulding (Scituate, Mass.)
MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
LYDIA AKINS | SR. | EDINA, MINN.
Defensive Player of the Year | All-CCC First Team
In 16 games played this season (all starts), Akins notched a 10-7 overall record via 149 saves (.509) and a 9.58 goals against average (GAA) in 901 minutes played.
Akins' CCC ranks include: GAA (1st), saves (3rd), save percentage (1st), and saves per game (3rd).
The senior has made 10 or more saves in eight games this season, highlighted by her 12-save performance in the CCC Semifinal game versus Western New England.
Among her NCAA Division III peers, Akins rankes 20th in save percentage, 49th in saves, 60th in GAA, and 79th in saves per game.
EMERSON CLARK | FR. | GLOUCESTER, MASS.
Rookie of the Year | All-CCC First Team
Appearing in every game this season, Clark has scored 42 goals and added 22 assists for 64 points. She also collected up 26 ground balls, caused 15 turnovers, and won one draw control so far in her freshman campaign.
The freshman has scored three or more goals in nine games this season, while also recording five or more points seven times.
The Gloucester, Mass. native won CCC Rookie of the Week four times throughout the season and scored five goals on two occasions, versus Western New England on 3/27 and against the University of New England on 4/10.
Clark is currently fifth in program history for goals scored by a freshman and third in points recorded in a freshman season.
MAUREEN SPELLMAN | HEAD COACH | SIXTH YEAR
Coach of the Year
Spellman, and the rest of the coaching staff, led Endicott to a 4.86 goals-against average in conference-only games.
The Gulls led the league in both save percentage with 58.5 and in caused turnovers a game with 13.
Spellman is 74-34 overall (.685) and 43-2 in conference games (.956) in her seven seasons (2018-present) at the helm of the program.
During that span, Endicott has won two conference championships and advanced to the title game in every season.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (11-7) advanced to the CCC Championship for the 18th time in program history after defeating Western New England, 16-5, on Wednesday night in the CCC Semifinals. The second-seed Gulls will now travel to No. 1 seed Roger Williams on Saturday, May 4 at 1 PM for the CCC Championship.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)