Three Women's Soccer Players Earn All-TCCC Honors

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(Portions Courtesy of The Commonwealth Coast Conference)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Twelve different institutions from The Commonwealth Coast Conference were represented on the 2010 All-TCCC Women's Soccer Team, it was announced today by Commissioner Gregg M. Kaye. In addition to the all-conference team, four major individual award winners and a team sportsmanship award winner was also selected. Roger Williams University junior Laurin Pendleton was named TCCC Player of the Year, Roger Williams freshman Hannah Noel was selected as TCCC Rookie of the Year, Colby Sawyer College senior Katherine Lee was named TCCC Senior Scholar Athlete, Roger Williams Coach Abigail Jackson was named TCCC Coach of the Year, and Anna Maria College was the recipient of the Team Sportsmanship Award.

Voting for the All-TCCC team and each of the major awards was conducted among TCCC women's soccer coaches.

Three members of Wentworth's women's soccer team were among the 36 student-athletes who earned all-conference honors as sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Somma (Windham, Maine) was named Second Team All-TCCC, while classmates Deborah Lesky (Newton, Mass.) and Jess Gardner (Wilbraham, Mass.) were Honorable Mention All-TCCC selections at midfield and keeper, respectively.

Somma started all 17 of Wentworth's games, recording eight goals and a pair of assists for team-high 18 points.  One of her two goals in a 4-1, season-ending win over Colby-Sawyer on Oct. 27 was the game-winning tally.  She scored 17 of her 18 points this past season in conference play.  Playing in 37 of a possible 37 games through two seasons, Somma, who was an All-New England selection by the New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association as a freshman, had scored 14 goals and added two assists for 30 career points, which includes three game-winning markers.

Lesky also enjoyed a solid sophomore season, scoring seven goals and adding two assists for 16 points, including tallying the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over Emerson on Sept. 7.  In 13 TCCC games, she scored 13 points, which came on six goals and one assist.  Lesky, who also earned All-New England honors by NEWISA as a rookie, has played in 36 of a possible 37 games during her two seasons at Wentworth and had scored 21 points, which has come on eight goals and five assists.

Playing in nearly 97 percent of the minutes the Leopards played (1500:14 of a possible 1556:45), Gardner posted a 7-9-1 record with a 1.98 goals against average, a pair of shutouts, and 117 saves in 17 games.  In 17 conference games she was 6-6-1 with a 1.97 goals against average and a pair of shutouts, while making 84 saves in those 13 games.  Gardner was a key to Wentworth winning its final four games of the season, as she had a shutout streak of 329:22 which began midway through the first half of a 3-2 upset win over then-first place Endicott on Oct. 16 and ended late in a 4-1 win over Colby-Sawyer to end the season.  In 29 career games, Gardner is 11-14-1 with a 1.70 goals against average and five shutouts.

Under the direction of 13^th-year head coach Angel Ayres, the Leopards finished the 2010 campaign with a 7-9-1 record and placed ninth in TCCC with a 6-6-1 mark.  Wentworth narrowly missed qualifying for TCCC Tournament.