EDISON, NJ (Apr. 29, 2022) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced the 2022 Women’s Lacrosse Major Award winners and All-MAAC Teams, voted on by the league’s nine head coaches.
Siena’s fifth year, Nicole McNeely, was named the 2022 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year. McNeely finished the regular season with 83 points, 45 goals and 38 assists, which ranked second, second, and fourth in the MAAC, respectively. The attacker was third in the league in both points per game (4.88) and assists per game (2.24), while ranking fifth in goals (2.65). McNeely is the only player to post games of 10-points, nine-points, and eight-points this season. She was honored as MAAC Offensive Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks on April 11 and 18.
Winning 2022 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year award was Andrea Liotta of Manhattan. The junior defender led the league in caused turnovers, averaging 2.00 per game and forcing 34 total, and was tied for the conference lead in ground balls, scooping up a MAAC-best 44. She was the only player in the MAAC this season to average above two caused turnovers per outing and was just one of two players with above 30 on the season. Liotta also ranked seventh in the MAAC in draw controls, earning 82 total.
Cassidy Orban from Monmouth claimed the 2022 MAAC Midfielder of the Year honor. The conference leader in draw controls, she tallied a total of 109 draw controls and averaged 6.41 per game. Offensively, she accounted for 46 points, scoring 42 goals and handing out 4 assists. Orban’s six goals against Army on March 5, was tied for the third-most goals by a player in a game this season. The graduate student picked up MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on March 21.
The unanimous pick for 2022 MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year was Niagara’s Michelle Messenger. A two-time winner of the award after also winning it last season, the senior keeper ranked second in the MAAC in saves and saves percentage, stopping 152 shots for a 10.13 average and recording a save percentage of .483. Messenger also had the seventh-best goals against average (12.37) and scooped up the third-best ground balls average (2.60) in the conference during 2022.
The 2022 MAAC Rookie of the Year was Kira Varada from Iona. The freshman averaged 2.69 ground balls per game, which led all MAAC players. Her 43 total ground balls ranked second amongst all players, and she was third in both caused turnovers (27) and caused turnovers per game (1.69). Additionally, Varada was seventh in the MAAC in draw controls and she won four total MAAC Rookie of the Week accolades during the 2022 campaign.
Monmouth’s Jordan Trautman was named the 2022 MAAC Coach of the Year. In her fifth season at the helm of the Hawks, she guided her squad to a share of the MAAC Regular Season title, the team’s first since 2018. Monmouth finished the 2022 campaign with a 6-2 MAAC record and 11-6 overall mark. The Hawks ended the regular season as winners of six straight games and have not dropped a contest since March.
The full list of All-MAAC Teams and major awards winners are below.
| 2022 Women’s Lacrosse Major Awards |
| Awards |
Player |
School |
| Offensive Player of the Year |
Nicole McNeely |
Siena |
| Defensive Player of the Year |
Andrea Liotta |
Manhattan |
| Midfielder of the Year |
Cassidy Orban |
Monmouth |
| Goalkeeper of the Year |
Michelle Messenger* |
Niagara |
| Rookie of the Year |
Kira Varada |
Iona |
| Coach of the Year |
Jordan Trautman |
Monmouth |
| All-MAAC First Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Katie Smolensky |
Sr. |
Attack |
Canisius |
| Grace Lipponer |
Sr. |
Attack |
Manhattan |
| Caroline Brennan |
Fr. |
Attack |
Monmouth |
| Nicole McNeely |
5Y. |
Attack |
Siena |
| Skylar McArthur |
Sr. |
Midfield |
Canisius |
| Kelly Horning |
Gr. |
Midfield |
Fairfield |
| Cassidy Orban |
Gr. |
Midfield |
Monmouth |
| Caroline Mangan |
Sr. |
Defense |
Fairfield |
| Andrea Liotta* |
Jr. |
Defense |
Manhattan |
| Clare McCooe |
Fr. |
Defense |
Manhattan |
| TaNia Cunningham |
Sr. |
Defense |
Niagara |
| Emily Fiorillo |
Gr. |
Defense |
Siena |
| Michelle Messenger |
Sr. |
Goalkeeper |
Niagara |
| All-MAAC Second Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Elizabeth Talluto |
Jr. |
Attack |
Fairfield |
| Kerri Gutenberger |
Jr. |
Attack |
Marist |
| Lexi Brainecki |
So. |
Attack |
Niagara |
| Lois Garlow |
Jr. |
Attack |
Niagara |
| Paige Stachura |
Jr. |
Midfield |
Canisius |
| Nicollette LaVista |
Sr. |
Midfield |
Fairfield |
| Kira Varada |
Fr. |
Midfield |
Iona |
| Mary Soures |
Sr. |
Midfield |
Siena |
| Carly Young |
Sr. |
Defense |
Iona |
| Bri Falco |
Jr. |
Defense |
Monmouth |
| Shannon Feeley |
Jr. |
Defense |
Monmouth |
| Jenna Colabufo |
Jr. |
Defense |
Siena |
| Kat Henselder |
Jr. |
Goalkeeper |
Quinnipiac |
| MAAC All-Rookie Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Sarah Kilburn |
Fr. |
Midfield |
Canisius |
| Carly Linthicum |
Fr. |
Midfield |
Iona |
| Kira Varada* |
Fr. |
Midfield |
Iona |
| Clare McCooe* |
Fr. |
Defense |
Manhattan |
| Chloe Birckhead |
Fr. |
Midfield |
Marist |
| Sophia Georgopoulos |
Fr. |
Defense |
Marist |
| Caroline Brennan* |
Fr. |
Attack |
Monmouth |
| Danielle McNeely |
Fr. |
Midfield |
Monmouth |
| Ella Spears |
Fr. |
Attack |
Monmouth |
| Jaclyn Crane |
Fr. |
Midfield |
Niagara |
| Ellagrace Delmond |
1Y. |
Midfield |
Quinnipiac |
| Jordan Bentley* |
Fr. |
Midfield |
Siena |
| Meghan Decker |
Fr. |
Midfield |
Siena |
| Grace Dobrzynski* |
Fr. |
Attack |
Siena |
*Denote Unanimous Selection
The 2022 MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship will take place from April 30 through May 8. The six-team, single-elimination championship will begin with the aforementioned opening round on Saturday, followed by the semifinals on Friday, May 6, and concluding with the championship match on Sunday, May 8. Opening round matches will be hosted by the higher seed of each contest, while the championship semifinals and final will be hosted by Siena. This will mark the first time that the semis and final will be hosted at Hickey Field in Loudonville, NY. All Championship matches will air live on the ESPN family of networks.
For all championship information regarding the 2022 Women’s Lacrosse Championship, visit
maacsports.com.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 41st year of competition during the 2021-22 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
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