DPOY Paine Headlines Eight Owls On All-MASCAC Team

Westfield, Mass. — Framingham State attack Hannah Guerin and Westfield State defender Victoria Paine are the 2024 MASCAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year and headline the All-Conference teams which are voted on by the coaches from around the league.

This is the second MASCAC Offensive Player of the Year honor for Guerin who won the award in 2022 while she earns her fourth All-Conference accolade of her storied career for the Rams. The senior from Cumberland, R.I. filled the stat sheet for the MASCAC Regular Season Champions after she tallied a school record 120 points with 69 goals and 51 assists, both the best in the MASCAC. She was 23-of-39 on free position shots while racking up 102 shot on goal with a 56.6 shooting percentage. She also collected 18 ground balls and caused 12 turnovers. In the regular season win over Bridgewater State, she broke a school record with a 14 point effort of nine goals and five assists.

Earning the 2024 MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year, Paine, a senior from Dudley, Mass., helped the Owls to the second seed in the tournament with a 5-1 league mark. She also joins Guerin as a four time All-Conference honoree. During the season, she collected 41 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers. She currently ranks in the top 10 in Westfield State program history in career ground balls (117) and third in caused turnovers (59) over her 65 games played. She disrupted the Western New England offense in the Owls season-opening win over the Golden Bears where she tallied five ground balls and caused five turnovers in the win.

Claiming the 2024 MASCAC Rookie of the Year is Sarah Naar of Massachusetts Maritime. The freshman from Milton, Del. becomes the first Buccaneer since 2018 to earn the recognition. In her first season, she recorded a stat line of 54 points on 46 goals and eight assists with a 70.7 shots on goal percentage. Her 46 goals is the second-most by a freshman in school history. She also collected 27 ground balls, eight caused turnovers and three draw controls. Her best game of the season came in the win over Fitchburg State where she netted eight goals and an assist with three ground balls and a caused turnover.

After leading the Rams to the MASCAC regular season title and the top seed in the tournament in her first season at the helm, Casey Bradley of Framingham State has been named the 2024 BSN Sports Coach of the Year as voted by her peers.

Earning a spot on the 2024 MASCAC First Team with Guerin and Paine, Camryn Gonsalves and Erin McIntyre of Bridgewater State, Rachel Erickson and Maggie Grout of Framingham State, Cassie Llewellyn of Mass. Maritime, Megan Bailey, Kara Banagan, Natalie DeMaio, Kiely Hafensteiner and Paige Jelliffe of Westfield State.

On this year's MASCAC Second-Team All-Conference squad with Naar are Nicole Orlowski of Fitchburg State, Isabella DiMare, Leah Green, Kaleigh Houlihan and Molly Lanier of Framingham State, Savannah Scrodin of Salem State, Mykenzie Black and Olivia Hadla of Westfield State and Mckayla Fisher, Shea Jarvis and Sarah Melanson of Worcester State.

The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, the nation's first Division III men's and women's playing conference, has a rich and storied tradition of competitive success while celebrating excellence in the classroom. MASCAC member schools include Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, MCLA, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Salem State University, Westfield State University and Worcester State University. Two other institutions, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Plymouth State University, are affiliate members of the conference in the sports of football and men's ice hockey, while Western Connecticut State University joined the conference as a football affiliate member in 2013 and Vermont State- Castleton in 2024. Dean College, Eastern Nazarene College, Elms College, Mitchell College and Springfield College joined as men's golf affiliates in 2019 and New England College in 2021.