GNAC Rookies of the Week: October 6

By Natalie West

Communications and Special Events Specialist


Katherine Chambers (Women’s Soccer, St. Joseph’s Maine), Laura Furfaro (Women’s Cross Country, JWU), Kasey Higgins (Women’s Volleyball, JWU), Matt Munden (Men’s Golf, UMass Dartmouth), Sabrina Salmela (Women’s Tennis, Simmons), Mathew Scully (Men’s Cross Country, Lasell), and Mike Skelton (Men’s Soccer, Lasell) have been named Great Northeast Athletic Conference Rookies of the Week.

Women’s Soccer - Katherine Chambers, St. Joseph’s (Maine), Fr., Hampden, Maine
Netting a game- winning goal in women’s soccer for St. Joseph’s College (Maine), was Freshman Katherine Chambers. Chambers lead the Monks’ comeback victory over Emerson College on Sunday. She has scored two goals on the season with a shot on goal percentage of .412.

Women’s Cross Country - Laura Furfaro, St. Joseph’s (Maine), Fr., North Warren, N.J.
Running well at the Pop Crowell Invitational for Women’s Cross Country was Freshman Laura Furfaro from Johnson & Wales. A native of North Warren, N.J., she recorded a time of 21:39 to lead the Wildcats to a 12th place finish overall.

Women’s Volleyball - Kasey Higgins, Johnson & Wales, Fr., Wallingford, Conn.
Playing tremendous volleyball for the GNAC this week was Freshman Kasey Higgins from Johnson & Wales. A Wallingford, Conn. native, Higgins averaged 6.7 assists and 0.7 digs per game to lead JWU to a third place finish in the conference. Also she notched 33 set assists and a pair of service aces to defeat non-conference foe Eastern Connecticut.

Men’s Golf - Matt Munden, UMass-Dartmouth, Jr., Brockton, Mass.
Leading the Rookies in Men’s Golf this past week was Junior Matt Munden from UMass-Dartmouth. Munden, a native of Brockton Mass., shot scores of 79 and scores of even-par 72 for a total of 151. This qualified him to tie for a seventh place in the ECAC Division III Championships. Although a Junior, it is Munden’s first year on the golf team and his first collegiate tournament.

Women’s Tennis - Sabrina Samela, Simmons, Fr., Beverly, Mass.
Simmons College Shark, Freshman Sabrina Salmela from Beverly, Mass., led the GNAC in tennis this past week. Salmela defeated three GNAC opponents (JWU, Albertus, Emerson) to finish with a 4-0 record this week in singles. She had a major victory against non-conference matchup Mount Holyoke.

Men’s Cross Country - Matthew Scully, Lasell, Fr., Watertown, Conn.
Finishing top of the pack for Men’s Cross Country was Lasell Freshman Mathew Scully. Similar to every other race Scully ran this year he finished first for Lasell at the Pop Crowell Invitational at Gordon College on Saturday. Overall he finished in 26th place with a time of 28:17.

Men’s Soccer - Mike Skelton, Lasell, Fr., North Conway, N.H.
Freshman Mike Skelton from North Conway, N.H. Skelton scored the game winning goal to push Lasell past Bridgewater State in their non-conference matchup on Wednesday. He scored the sole goal only 2 minutes and 23 seconds into the game to tally his total to 18 goals on the season.