Modena Named MAAC Offensive Player Of The Year

Lake Buena Vista, FL - Senior Erica Modena (Massapequa, NY / Massapequa) was named the 2017 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Offensive Player of the Year while earning All-Conference honors for the fourth time in her career earlier this evening at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Modena's historic selection highlighted a night in which six Jaspers were recognized by the MAAC.
 
Modena, who is second in the MAAC with 10 goals and 26 points, became the the first Offensive Player of the Year in school history and did nothing to dampen her reputation as a big-game performer in yesterday's quarterfinal win over Iona with two goals and an assist. The fifth-year senior is second in school history with 33 career goals and 79 career points to go along with nine career game-winning scores, five multi-goal matches and two hat tricks.
   
Freshman Sydney Harwood (Monroe, NY / Monroe-Woodbury) earns All-MAAC Second and MAAC All-Rookie Team honors after playing in 15 matches, including 14 starts, while helping to anchor a defense that has yielded just 16 goals in 19 matches. The rookie phenom also scored the game-winning goal in Manhattan's 4-0 win over Iona in the regular season.
 
Sophomore Arianna Montefusco (Levittown, NY / General Douglas MacArthur) was an All-MAAC Second Team pick after a breakout campaign in which she recorded seven goals and three assists, highlighted by registering a career-high two goals in the Jaspers' first-ever win at Fairfield.
 
Junior Emma Saul (Orchard Park, NY / Orchard Park) is the fourth member of the squad to earn All-MAAC honors and is second in the league with eight assists to go along with four goals. In yesterday's win over Iona, Saul assisted on the first Manhattan goals before finding the back of the net in the second half.
 
Freshman Bri DeLeo (Harriman, NY / Monroe-Woodbury) joins her former prep teammate Harwood on the MAAC All-Rookie Team after recording a goal with an assist in 18 matches. She scored her first collegiate goal in a 5-0 victory over Canisius while also adding an assist in the Jaspers' first victory over Iona.
 
Rounding out MAAC All-Rookie Team honorees is freshman Gemma Perez (Park Ridge, NJ / Paramus Catholic), who scored a pair of goals in 16 matches. She found the back of the net for the first time in her career in a 4-2 win at Marist before scoring the game-winner in a 3-1 victory over Saint Peter's.

Additionally, a MAAC-high 16 Manhattan student-athletes earned inclusion on the MAAC All-Academic Team. To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic team, a student-athlete must complete two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.

Earning inclusion was:
Seniors (4): Nicole Aylmer (Garnerville, NY / North Rockland), Dylan Burns (Manchester, CT / Manchester), Emily Center (Altamont, NY / Guilderland) and Maria Clemente (Troy, NY / UMass Lowell).
Juniors (6): Nicole Copping (Blue Point, NY / Bayport-Blue Point), Kelly DiGregorio (Centereach, NY / St. Anthony's), Annie Doerr (Pittsford, NY / Our Lady of Mercy), Sara Naessig (Bloomsburg, PA / Danville Area), Victoria Reis (Rockville Centre, NY / South Side) and Saul.
Sophomores (6): Emma Boss (Holden, MA / Wachusett Regional), Kelly Hasty (North Haledon, NY / Paramus Catholic), Camryn Nici (Seaford, NY / St. Anthony's), Megan O'Connor (Hawthorne, NY / Westlake), Olivia Printy (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL / St. Joseph Academy) and Erin Sanders (Goshen, NY / Goshen).

The Jaspers will have little time to celebrate as they will take on Quinnipiac in the semifinals of the 2017 MAAC Championship on Tuesday, October 31 at 2:00 pm in a game that will be streamed live on ESPN3. Click HERE to watch and HERE for live stats.

For highlights of yesterday's 6-0 win over Iona click on the link below: