BRIDGEWATER, Mass. --- Bridgewater State
Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) has been selected
as this year’s New England Women’s Lacrosse Alliance
(NEWLA) Player of the Year while senior Adrienne
Berkland (Sharon, MA) has been named the Defensive Player
of the Year, in voting conducted by the league's coaches as
announced by league publicist Robb Modica.
Freshman standout Jenny Jones (Framingham, MA) was
also tabbed as the Rookie of the Year while senior Alison
Gugliotta (Norwood, MA) takes home honors as the
Scholor-Athlete of the Year.
Manning, Berkland and sophomore Katie DeMaio (Port
Jefferson Station, NY) highlighted the NEWLA All-Conference First
Team while Jones and senior Lauryn Serratore
(Norwood, MA) were garnered with Second Team honors.
Manning, DeMaio, and Jones sparked an offense that currently leads
the NCAA Division III in goals per game (19.65), ranks third
overall in points (505) and fourth in scoring margin (+10.11 goals
per game). The Bears have already shattered their single-season
team records for goals, assists, points, and draw controls.
Bridgewater State is currently 13-4 and with perfect 7-0 record in
alliance play. After a 22-8 win over Westfield State in the NEWLA
Tournament semifinals, the top-seeded Bears will take on Castleton
State College in the conference championship game on
Saturday. The BSC record for wins in a season is 14 and
with a win in the tournament title game, the Bears could tie
the mark. The single-season mark for games played in a season is
19, set back in 2001.
Earlier this season, Bridgewater State set NCAA Division III
single-game records for assists (24) and points (50) in a 26-3 win
over Becker College.
As a sophomore, Manning currently leads the NEWLA in points (88),
points per game (5.5), assists (44) and assists per game (2.75). On
defense as a midfielder, Manning is fourth on the team in draw
controls with 57 and tied for second in caused turnovers (16).
Manning is currently tied for ninth in points and assists
nationally while she is tied 11th in assists per game and sits in
12th place in points per game.
Manning set the Bears' single-season assist record as she currently
has 48 assists on the season. She broke Paula Habel's 2002
mark of 47 assists. Manning also needs just five points to
eclipse Habel's single-season scoring mark of 99 points. Her
95 points are the second highest total in BSC women's lacrosse
history.
In her outstanding career Manning has 154 points (95 goals, 59
assists) in just two seasons at Bridgewater State. She
moved past Stacie Dufor (151 points) into
fifth place among the Bears all-time scoring leaders. She is also
tied for second place along with with Ann Silvia
(1997-2000) among BSC’s all-time assist leaders.
Berkland and Serratore both emerged as top defensive players in the
NEWLA this season. Both anchored a defense that leads the NCAA in
draw controls per game as the unit is currently averaging 18.76 in
17 games this season.
Berkland has registered an alliance best 32 caused turnovers to go
along with a team high 43 ground balls as well
as 23 draw controls. Serratore set the BSC single-season
record for draw controls as she leads the NEWLA with 74.
She also has 34 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers
while managing to also score 38 goals this season.
Serratore is ranked 23rd in the NCAA in draw controls per game
while Berkland is ranked 33rd in caused turnovers per game.
Jones had a sensational rookie campaign as she leads the
NEWLA with 55 goals. She broke Stacie
Dufor and Laura Swart's BSC rookie record
of 53 goals set in 2000. Jones ranks third in the alliance in
goals per game, fourth in points and seventh in points per
game.
This season Gugliotta has registered 35 goals and 18 assists this
season for a total of 53 points, which is fifth highest total on
the team. Gugliotta carries an overall GPA of 3.8 and she will
graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry.
DeMaio had a breakout season tallying 54 markers while dishing
out 20 assists for a total of 74 points. DeMaio ranks
second in the NEWLA in total points and third in goals.
Release Written by Steven M. Miller, Jr --- Sports
Information Correspondent