WESTFIELD, Mass. - Westfield State sophomore Bella Eduardo (Chicopee HS/Springfield, Mass.) has been named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's soccer player of the year, and Owls freshman back Lydia Kinsman (Southwick/Granville, Mass.) has been named the league's rookie of the year to headline five Westfield State players named to the leagues All-Conference first-team.
Senior midfielder Rene Hamel (Minnechaug HS/Hampden, Mass.) , sophomore midfielder Marissa McGue (North Quincy HS/Quincy, Mass.), and junior back Caitlin MacGregor (Minnechaug HS/Hampden, Mass.) round out the Owls all conference selections.
Eduardo leads the Owls with 14 goals this season and 34 points. Her 14 goals are the ninth highest single-season total in school history. Eduardo was the league's rookie of the year and a first team selection in 2016. She has 20 goals and 11 assists for 51 points in her two-year career at Westfield.
Kinsman brought an immediate impact on the Owls' lineup as a defender, a free kick specialist, and with her ability to go forward and attack. Kinsman has two goals and four assists for eight points this season.
Hamel, a senior transfer who previously played at NCAA Division II Southern New Hampshire, has totaled two goals and 10 assists for 14 points.
McGue five goals and four assists 14 points while patrolling the central midfield for the Owls.
MacGregor played in 10 games this season before being lost for the remainder of the year with an injury. She netted one goal this season (the first of her collegiate career), and helped anchor a defense that has allowed just 19 goals through 19 games this season. MacGregor earns a spot on the all-conference team for a third consecutive year. She was a second team pick as a freshman in 2015 and a first team selection in 2016.
This fivesome led have led the Owls to an 11-5-3 overall record, and a 6-1 mark in the MASCAC under 13th year head coach Todd Ditmar. The Owls finished in a three-way tie for the conference's regular season title, and as the number-two seed in the conference tournament, defeated top-seeded Worcester State, 2-1 in the title game on Sunday. Westfield captured the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national championship tournament, and the Owls will play at national number 10 Messiah College on Saturday, November 11 in Grantham, Pa. Westfield State is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance, all in the last 10 seasons.
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