Central Islip, NY - Four Dowling College Women's Soccer, led by senior
Vanessa Moreira (Selden, NY) being named ECC Co-Offensive Player of the Year, have been named to the ECC All-Conference teams.
Three Golden Lions made the All-Conference first team.
Vanessa Moreira,
Kate Collins (North Caldwell, NJ), and
Nicole Novello (Franklin Square, NY) earned first team honors.
Cassandra Cronin (Islip Terrace, NY) rounded out the Dowling All-Conference selections, being named to the second team.
Vanessa Moreira earned ECC Co-Offensive Player of the Year, sharing the award with Linda Velaj from Bridgeport.
Moreira in her final season in a Dowling uniform had possibly the best season of her four year career. On the year she led the conference in goals (15), assists (12), points (42), points per game (2.21), and assists per game (0.63). She also tallied 7 game winning goals on the year, including 4 that came in overtime.
Moreira, who came into this season as the program's all-time leader in goals and points, also became the all-time leader in assists. Some of her other impressive feats on the season include scoring a hat trick for the 7th time in her career against Mercy and also setting the program's single game assist mark with 4 against St. Thomas Aquinas.
Kate Collins earned All-Conference First Team honors in her only season as a Golden Lion.
After coming to Dowling from Stony Brook University, the graduate midfielder instantly became a force in the Golden Lions midfield.
Collins finished fourth on the team with 3 goals and second on the team with 8 assists.
Nicole Novello, a sophomore back, earned All-Conference honors for the first time in her career being named to the First Team.
Novello was an integral part of the Dowling defensive back line that allowed only 1.06 goals per game and shut out 7 opponents on the year.
Novello also chipped in this season by scoring a goal in a win over Nyack.
Cassandra Cronin was the second midfielder on the Golden Lions squad to earn All-Conference honors, making the Second Team.
Cronin finished the season third on the team with four goals, while also dishing off three assists. Three of
Cronin's goals came when she became the third player in program history to tally a hat trick in a win over Mercy. Another highlight of her season was dishing off the assist on the game winning goal in the program's first every victory over C.W. Post.
2009 East Coast Conference Women's Soccer All-Conference
First Team
| Pos |
Name |
Team |
| F |
Ivana Babic |
C.W. Post |
| F |
Vanessa Moreira |
Dowling |
| F |
Linda Velaj |
Bridgeport |
| M |
Kate Collins |
Dowling |
| M |
Danielle DeLuca |
C.W. Post |
| M |
Prudence Rydstrom |
C.W. Post |
| M |
Emma Woolley |
Bridgeport |
| B |
Caitlin Mullady |
C.W. Post |
| B |
Nicole Novello |
Dowling |
| B |
Danielle Weir |
Bridgeport |
| GK |
Allison Breakey |
Queens |
Second Team
| Pos |
Name |
Team |
| F |
Sofia Hoflin |
Bridgeport |
| F |
Andrea Slavin |
Queens |
| F |
Nicole Valentine |
Molloy |
| M |
Cassandra Cronin |
Dowling |
| M |
Laura D'Amore |
Queens |
| M |
Dianna Geneva |
Molloy |
| M |
Ceri Harris |
Bridgeport |
| B |
Laura McNamara |
Molloy |
| B |
Jenna Peveraro |
Queens |
| B |
Anna Svenson |
C.W. Post |
| GK |
Christina Aquillon |
Molloy |
Co-Offensive Player of the Year: Vanessa Moreira, Dowling & Linda Velaj, Bridgeport
Defensive Player of the Year: Caitlin Mullady, C.W. Post
Goalkeeper of the Year: Allison Breakey, Queens
Rookie of the Year: Nicole Valentine, Molloy
Coach of the Year: Magnus Nilerud, Bridgeport