Kraus, Squire Earn Northeast-10 Women's Lacrosse Major Awards, Four Named All-Conference
SOUTH EASTON, Mass. – The Southern New Hampshire women’s lacrosse team garnered a pair of major Northeast-10 Conference awards and had four players named to the All-Conference team, it was announced by the conference office on Sunday afternoon. Junior Julie Kraus (Derry, NH) was named the NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year and was also named to the First Team, while SNHU head coach Mary Squire was named the league’s Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
Junior midfielder Libby Parent (Hinesburg, VT) was named to the First Team along with Kraus, while sophomore Carole Lee (Derry, NH) and junior Katie Clark (Norwich, CT) were named to the Second Team.
Kraus anchored a Penmen defense that ranked second in the Northeast-10, allowing 12.72 goals per game. She led Southern New Hampshire in ground balls (62), draw controls (56) and caused turnovers (30) while ranking fourth in the NE-10 in ground balls and first in the league for draw controls while ranking among the Division II leaders in those categories as well. One of three players to start all 18 games for SNHU, Kraus also registered 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points.
Parent led Southern New Hampshire in scoring, registering 48 goals and 28 assists for 76 points in 2008. In the process, she set a single-season school record for points in a season. She recorded at least one goal in all 18 games this season and failed to score multiple goals in a game just four times. During the season, she became SNHU’s all-time leading scorer and has registered 125 goals and 60 assists for 185 points over her first three seasons.
After scoring 27 goals as a freshman last season, Lee emerged as one of the top scoring threats on the Penmen in 2008, recording a single-season school record 52 goals and also adding six assists for a total of 58 points. Lee scored a single-game school record seven goals in a setback to top-ranked C.W. Post in March and scored multiple goals in each of Southern New Hampshire’s last 11 games, and notched at least five goals five times during the season.
Clark, in her first year with the Penmen women’s lacrosse program, stepped nicely into the starting goalie spot despite not having played the position since high school. Starting all 18 contests this season, Clark posted a 12.72 goals-against average and a .460 save percentage, ranking second in the Northeast-10 in GAA and fourth in save percentage. She made double-digit saves in 11 of SNHU’s 18 games, including a season-high 19 saves in a win at Merrimack.
Squire was named Coach of the Year for the second straight season after leading Southern New Hampshire to a 12-6 overall record, a 9-1 Northeast-10 mark and the program’s first-ever appearance in the NE-10 championship game. Over the past two seasons, Squire has led the Penmen to a 22-10 overall record and a 17-3 conference record. The only coach in program history, Squire has compiled an overall record of 36-33 in five seasons.