FIELD HOCKEY: GNAC Announces 2022 All-Conference Teams & Major Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Top-four GNAC teams each receive
one major student-athlete honor

WINTHROP, Mass. – Fresh off its second straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference Field Hockey Championship on Saturday afternoon, Johnson & Wales University (RI) saw three of its Wildcats named to the All-GNAC First Team on Tuesday as the league office announced its major award winners.

Simmons University sophomore attacker Sydney Gonyea was also selected as the 2022 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year, as voted upon by the league's head coaches, after the Sharks standout led the GNAC in goals (27) and points (70).

For the complete All-Conference, All-Rookie, and All-Sportsmanship Teams, please see below.

Guided to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth by head coach Lisa Lopes, who was voted the 2022 GNAC Coach of the Year, JWU senior Madison Flaxington also won annual Goalkeeper of the Year honors. She was joined on the First Team by graduate student Jillian Miele and junior midfielder Katie Sloan. 

Entering NCAA Tournament play, where JWU will take on Williams, Flaxington is second among GNAC leaders in both save percentage (.857) and goals-against average (0.61) for a JWU program that allowed just three goals in conference play, and only 10 goals in 20 games overall (19-1). 

Miele, last year's GNAC Offensive Player of the Year, is first in the GNAC in assists (18) and second in points (68) as the Wildcats prepare for the Ephs, while Sloan, the 2021 GNAC Rookie of the Year, has started all 20 games for the Wildcats with four goals scored. 

Colby-Sawyer College midfielder Aleah Murph received the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year award, as the Chargers junior registered 11 goals and 10 assists (32 points) for a CSC squad that allowed just 17 goals against conference foes. 

Rounding out the GNAC's major awards was Saint Joseph's College of Maine freshman Maya Waryas as this year's GNAC Rookie of the Year. Waryas was a three-time GNAC Rookie of the Week, totaling 23 goals and three assists for 49 points in her Monks debut campaign. 

FIRST TEAM
GK - Madison Flaxington, Johnson & Wales (RI)
F - Aoife Daly, Colby-Sawyer
F - Jillian Miele, Johnson & Wales (RI) 
F - Lily Stark, Lasell 
F - Sydney Gonyea, Simmons
M - Aleah Murph, Colby-Sawyer 
M - Katie Sloan, Johnson & Wales (RI)
M - Riley Lambert, Simmons 
D - McKensie Lennon, Lasell
D - Morgan Dalton, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
D - Haley Dover, Simmons 

SECOND TEAM
GK - Serena Montague, Albertus Magnus
F - Margaret Johnson, Johnson & Wales (RI)
F - Sheridan Blaha, Lasell 
F - Maya Waryas, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
F - Alexa Gutowski, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
M - Johanna Snyder, Lasell
M - Madison Bovill, Rivier 
M - Molly McCluskey, Saint Joseph's (Me.) 
D - Sabrina Lippold, Colby-Sawyer 
D - Madison Streeter, Rivier 
D - McKenzie Fairfax, St. Joseph (Conn.)

THIRD TEAM
GK - Sarah Arenberg, Simmons
F - Taylor Gaudette, Colby-Sawyer 
F - Sydney Spenard, Rivier 
F - Hannah Groves, Simmons
F - Anna Tedeschi, Simmons
M - Mackenzie Wolf, Johnson & Wales (RI)
M - Ariana Komonaj, St. Joseph (Conn.) 
M - Aimee Adams, Saint Joseph's (Me.) 
D - Madison-Marie Romano, Anna Maria
D - Haley Budenas, Johnson & Wales (RI)
D - Kaitlyn Freeman, Johnson & Wales (RI) 

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Serena Montague, Albertus Magnus 
Taylor Gaudette, Colby-Sawyer
Cecilia Ponzini, Colby-Sawyer 
Zofia Bangs, Johnson & Wales (RI)
Mei Tobin, Johnson & Wales (RI)
Madison Young, Johnson & Wales (RI)
Abby Boudreau, Lasell 
Madison Bovill, Rivier 
McKenzie Fairfax, St. Joseph (Conn.)
Maya Waryas, Saint Joseph's (Me.) 
Zoe Schmaling, Simmons

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Sydney Gonyea, Simmons
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Aleah Murph, Colby-Sawyer
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR - Madison Flaxington, Johnson & Wales (RI)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - Maya Waryas, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
COACH OF THE YEAR - Lisa Lopes, Johnson & Wales
TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD - Dean College

ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM
Kaitlin D'Agostino, Albertus Magnus 
Ashley Garcia, Anna Maria 
Bella Silva, Colby-Sawyer
Zoe Coleman, Dean  
Abbie Sierzego, Elms
Daisy Sharrow, Johnson & Wales 
Kaitlin Bedell, Lasell 
Ava Costello, Regis
Jacklyn O'Connor, Rivier 
Isabella Pelletier, St. Joseph (Conn.) 
Sadie Tirrell, Saint Joseph's (Me.) 
Riley Lambert, Simmons 

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 14 member institutions and over 3,500 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

– #TheGNAC –