University of Massachusets Athletics
Sowry, Potts, Widdall Headline UMass All-Conference Selections
November 04, 2010 | Field Hockey
Nov. 4, 2010
2010 Atlantic 10 Field Hockey All-Conference Teams
AMHERST, Mass. - Head Coach Justine Sowry, senior defender Makaela Potts, and junior goalkeeper Alesha Widdall led a total of 12 UMass honors when the Atlantic 10 announced its All-Conference field hockey teams on Thursday. Sowry was named A-10 Coach of the Year for the third time in four seasons, while Potts repeated as A-10 Defensive Player of the Year and Widdall was named A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year. The Minutewomen placed four players on the All-Conference first team.
Potts, who became just the second UMass player to ever win Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2009 (after Anke Bruemmer in 2001), made it back-to-back honors in 2010 while also being named to the All-Conference First Team. Joining Potts on the first team are senior defender Jaime Bourazeris, senior midfielder Katie Kelly, and junior goalkeeper Widdall, giving UMass a conference-high four on the first team.
Junior transfer defender Thando Zono was named to the All-Conference Second Team in her first season in the Maroon & White.
UMass also had a league-high three freshmen named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team. Forward Lindsay Bowman, defender Hannah Prince, and midfielder Alexa Sikalis comprise the largest All-Rookie Team class in UMass program history.
Kelly and Widdall were also honored by being named to the Academic All-Conference Team as well for their performance in the classroom as well as on the playing field, with Widdall taking home the conference's top academic honor. The junior is named A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year after cumulating a 3.592 GPA over her collegiate career in Anthrpology while being one of the top goalies in the NCAA on the field.
Sowry earns her third A-10 Coach of the Year award in just four seasons as head coach. She won the award in her first two seasons at the helm of the UMass program in 2007 and 2008. With a team carrying 10 freshmen and 11 total newcomers, Sowry has led UMass to a 13-6 overall record in 2010, including a 7-0 mark in Atlantic 10 play, giving the Minutewomen the No. 1 seed in this weekend's A-10 Championship at Temple. She has led the club through a challenging schedule, including victories over No. 4 Connecticut and No. 8 Syracuse to bring the program to a current NCAA RPI ranking of No. 14.
In her four seasons, Sowry is 56-29 as head coach, including a 22-4 mark in conference play.
Potts has once again been the focal point of the UMass squad in 2010, controlling the play from the backfield through the lines. She has five goals and two assists for 12 points, while being a leader on both the offensive and defensive corner units. This is the third-straight year being named to the All-Conference First Team for the two-time NFHCA All-American.
Joining Potts on the first team are UMass' two other seniors. Bourazeris has had a stellar 2010 campaign, scoring two goals and posting a career-high seven assists for 11 points. Both her goals were game-winners and her seven assists are tied for third in the A-10. Always one of UMass' most reliable defenders, Bourazeris anchors both corner units. This is her first first-team honor after being named to the A-10 second-team in 2009, honorable mention in 2008, and All-Rookie in 2007.
Kelly has once again been the leader of the UMass attack in 2010, recording a team-high 11 goals and 29 points going into postseason play. The two-year captain has moved into the top 10 all-time at UMass in career goals (36, T-7th), assists (19, T-10th), and points (91, 6th). This is her second first-team honor and her first All-Academic honor.
Joining the seniors on the first team is junior goalie Widdall, her third-straight year taking first-team honors. She has once again been one of the nation's top goalkeepers, playing every minute in 2010 to amass a 13-6 record with a 1.13 goals against average and a .792 save percentage. Widdall ranks seventh in the country in both GAA and save percentage.
Zono, a transfer from South Africa, makes the second team in her first season at UMass. After missing almost a month to injury early in the season, she came back to be a force down the stretch of conference play, scoring six goals in the team's final five games, all against A-10 opponents.
The freshmen trio named to the All-Rookie team have led a strong group of 10 UMass freshmen in 2010. Bowman has scored three goals on the season, including the game-winner vs. No. 4 UConn, while playing in every game at forward. Prince has started every game at back and quickly established herself as that line's leader of the future. Sikalis, a deft ball-handler, has one goal and one assist on the year while seeing action in every game on the midifield line.
The top-seeded Minutewomen face host and No. 4 seed Temple in the A-10 semifinals on Friday at 2 p.m. at Geasey Field. The winner will face the winner of the No. 2 Lock Haven-No. 3 Richmond semifinal on Saturday at 2 p.m.
