On Wednesday, the Big East announced its league awards in women’s soccer and Methuen’s Courtnee Pickles, the Eagle-Tribune’s 2024 Player of the Year, was named to the All-Big East Third Team.
Pickles played 16 games for the Friars this season, including 14 appearances in the starting lineup. The freshman registered 1,140 minutes at forward. Pickles finished her freshman campaign tied for second on the team in points, with seven, including finishing tied for second on the team with three goals.
On Thursday night, No. 1 seed Boston University faced No. 5 seed Lafayette in the Patriot League Tournament semifinal. BU (10-4-3) are the defending league champions. Freshman Ariana Schwinn-Clanton has appeared in ten games as a forward, collecting an assist.
Also on Thursday night, Pelham’s Ashlyn Walsh and her Fairfield teammates took on Sacred Heart in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship game. Earlier this week, Walsh was named to the MAAC All-Third Team. Fairfield (15-1-2)is currently ranked No. 25 in the country.
After shutting out Skidmore College 3-0 on Tuesday, the No. 5 seeded Ithaca College will travel to Poughkeepsie on Friday for a showdown against the top seeded Vassar College Brewers. The Liberty League Championship semifinal matchup will take place at 1:30 p.m. at Gordon Field.
Windham resident Ali Amari has played a big factor in Ithaca’s success. She has started all 17 games and has been part of a defensive squad that has earned ten shutouts, while giving up just seven goals all season.
Turning to the men, Windham’s Preston Neal played in seven games as the goalie for Temple University and finished with a respectable 2.29 GAA, while making 41 saves.
Another goalie, North Andover’s Joey Waterman led Middlebury to a 2-1 win over Bowdoin in the NESCAC quarterfinals on Saturday. Middlebury will now take on Tufts in the semifinals on Saturday.
Waterman is tied for the fewest goals of any NESCAC counterpart (seven) and owns a conference-best .870 save percentage. He has a 9-2 record and a 0.60 GAA.
Harvard University can earn a spot in the Ivy League tournament with a win over Dartmouth – and Yale beats or ties Brown – in a game that will be televised live on ESPN+ on Saturday. Freshman Alejandro Palacio, of North Andover, has two goals and one assist.