Monmouth Selected as Favorites to Repeat in MAAC Field Hockey
MAAC Sports
EDISON, NJ - Monmouth University was selected as the preseason favorites to repeat as MAAC champions in field hockey, as voted by the league’s seven head coaches. Monmouth received 48 points and six of the leagues seven first place votes to edge league newcomer, Fairfield University, which earned 40 points.
Monmouth finished with a 13-8 overall record and 4-1 conference mark in 2014, earning both the MAAC regular season and MAAC championship titles. The Hawks registered a perfect 4-0 home record against MAAC opponents during the season, which included a 2-0 mark during the regular season and a 2-0 record during the MAAC Championship. During the 2014 campaign, Monmouth led the conference in goals per game, assists per game, points per game, scoring average and scoring margin. The Hawks garnered five of the six major awards and placed a league best of eight players on All-MAAC teams, highlighted by 2014 Lids Team Sports MAAC Coach of the Year, Carli Figlio.
Fairfield’s junior forward Ann Burgoyne was chosen as the 2015 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year. The 5-foot-4 Blue Bell, Pennsylvania native, became the first Stag in school history to earn the American East Offensive Player of the Year award. She was her team’s leading scorer, recording 19 goals, with one assist, to finish the season with a team-best 39 points, good for second in the American East. Burgoyne finished her sophomore season ranked fourth in the nation with 1.000 goals per game, 12th in points per game (2.05), and set a Fairfield single-season records in goals (19) and points (39). She earned American East First Team honors, an ECAC All-Star Second Team selection, and added an NFHCA All-Mideast Region Team honors.
Fairfield, which enters its first year in the MAAC, finished second in the poll. The Stags finished its final season in the American East with a 2-3 conference mark and 7-12 overall record. Fairfield fell to No. 14 Albany, 2-1, in the semifinals of the conference championship last season.
Quinnipiac University was third in the poll with 32 points, followed by Rider University with 27 points and Sacred Heart University finishing in a close fifth with 24 points. Bryant University (15) and Siena College (10) rounded out the poll.
Joining Burgoyne on the Preseason All-MAAC Team at forward is teammate Julie de Paeuw, Monmouth’s Meg Donahue, Quinnipiac’s Savanna Reilly, and Sacred Heart’s Christine Mace. The midfielders are Monmouth’s Cori Allen, Quinnipiac’s Meghan McCullough, and Rider’s Carlota Clotet Alsina. Casey Hanna of Monmouth, Quinnipiac’s Megan Osanitsch and Melyssa Alonso from Rider were selected as the defenders. The goalkeeper is Rider’s Joelle Prettyman.
Preseason Coaches' Poll
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1.
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Monmouth
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48
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2.
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Fairfield
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40
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3.
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Quinnipiac
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32
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4.
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Rider
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27
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5.
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Sacred Heart
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24
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6.
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Bryant
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15
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7.
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Siena
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10
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Preseason All-MAAC Team
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Ann Burgoyne
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Forward
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Fairfield
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Julie de Paeuw
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Forward
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Fairfield
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Meg Donahue
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Forward
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Monmouth
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Savanna Reilly
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Forward
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Quinnipiac
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Christine Mace
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Forward
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Sacred Heart
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Cori Allen
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Midfield
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Monmouth
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Meghan McCullough
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Midfield
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Quinnipiac
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Carlota Clotet Alsina
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Midfield
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Rider
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Casey Hanna
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Defense
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Monmouth
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Megan Osanitsch
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Defense
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Quinnipiac
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Melyssa Alonso
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Defense
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Rider
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Joelle Prettyman
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Goalkeeper
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Rider
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Preseason Player of the Year
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Ann Burgoyne
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Forward
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Fairfield
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