Abbott
Abbott
Anderson
Branca
Cavellier

The North Eastern Athletic Conference office announced its 2016-17 Women’s Lacrosse All-Conference team selections Wednesday, with 36 student-athletes receiving honors on the first, second and third teams, including seven from Morrisville State College.

Delcolle
George
Leva

Gianna Branca (Camillus), Courtney Cavellier (Rodman) and Jordan Anderson (West Edmeston) all received first team honors, while teammate Celia Abbott (Shortsville) was recognized with second-team accolades.

Elizabeth Leva (Hoosick Falls), Brianna DelColle (Huntington) and Kallie George (Tully) were honored with third-team selections.

Branca led Morrisville State in scoring this season, with a balanced attacking game for the Mustangs. Starting all 16 games at attack, the junior posted 49 goals and assisted 41 for 90 points.  Twelve of Branca’s scores came on free positions as she converted 12-of-20 attempts. Ten times on the year she posted 3+ goals in a single game, including a game-high five goals three times. She posted a single-game best 10 points on five goals and five assists in the win over Poly and assisted a single game best nine in the win over Medaille.

Her single season total of 41 assists set the new all-time record for the Mustangs in the stats category and currently ranks first conference-wide. Branca ranks sixth overall in goals scored and is second in points in the NEAC. Branca averaged 3.06 goals per game and 2.50 assists per game on the year (5.56 points per game), adding 28 ground balls, 10 draw controls and 13 caused turnovers to her tallies.

Cavellier was second on the team in scoring behind her 40 goals and four assists (44 points). The sophomore midfielder also collected 61 ground balls and added 32 draw controls to her tallies, while causing 29 turnovers for the Mustangs, Cavellier notched seven 4+ goal games across 16 starts, including a single game high six against Wells, averaging 2.75 points per game.

Cavellier ranks fifth in the NEAC in ground balls and is currently seventh in caused turnovers. She was an All-Conference First Team selection at midfield a year ago.

Anderson was a defensive mainstay for the Mustangs throughout the season, as she collected a team high 71 ground balls and caused a team high 63 turnovers across 16 games. The senior posted a single game-high 10 ground balls in the win over Medaille, and another season best 11 caused turnovers in the defeat of Cazenovia. She also contributed offensively to the Mustangs success, netting 21 points on 14 goals and seven assists.

Anderson was a first-team All-Conference selection at defense a year ago, and is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. She currently ranks second overall in the NEAC in ground balls, and is first in caused turnovers, also ranking third overall in all of Division III in caused turnovers per game. She was a three-time NEAC Defensive Player of the Week selection this season.

Abbott was third on the team in scoring this season, collecting 38 goals and assisting 12 for 50 team points. Averaging 2.38 goals per game and 3.12 points per game, she posted a single-game high eight points against Hilbert on four goals and four assists, while posting another single-game high five goals against Wells.

Abbott also collected 31 ground balls and four draw controls, while causing seven turnovers. She was 11-for-15 in free position shots on the season, ranking ninth overall in the NEAC. She also ranks ninth in shooting percentage (56.7).

Leva battled back from an injury suffered at the beginning of the season and across 13 games, collected 20 goals and nine assists for 29 points. The senior also added 16 ground balls and 65 draw controls to her tallies, while causing two turnovers, averaging 2.23 points per game. She posted a single game high six points twice on the season, 5 goals and an assist against Keuka, and four goals and two assists against SUNY Poly; while posting a single game high 12 draw control wins against Wells.

The first team All-Conference selection at attack a year ago, ranked eighth overall in the NEAC in draw controls and was seventh in shooting percentage (57.1).

DelColle appeared and started in all 16 games for the Mustangs in the midfield and contributed a well-balanced effort throughout the season to the success of the program. She posted 16 goals and assisted another seven for 23 team points while adding 39 ground balls, 15 draw controls and 21 caused turnovers across the season.

The junior averaged 1.44 points per game and posted a single-game high three goals against Canton, a single conference game-high two scores against Cazenovia.

George posted an 11-5 record between the pipes for the Mustangs on the season, recording a 9.45 goals against average in 965 minutes of play. She recorded 127 saves on the year in 16 starts in net, facing 350 total shots. George posted a single-game high 13 saves in the loss to Rhodes at the beginning of the year, and in the final three games of the season registered 11+ saves with a game-high 12 coming against Lancaster Bible College. George, aside from her goalkeeping statistics, also picked up 43 ground balls and caused five turnovers.

She ranks first in the conference in minutes played, second in goals against average, fifth in saves, fourth in save percentage and first in wins, third in winning percentage.

Morrisville State finished second overall in the conference in regular season standings and enter the NEAC Championship Tournament as the second seed, facing third-seeded Medaille College Saturday in the semifinal round held at Penn State Abington.

By martha

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