New England Small College Athletic Conference

HADLEY, Mass. - Amherst senior forward Amy Armstrong (Avon, Conn.) has been named the 2006 NESCAC Player of the Year, while first year teammate Meg Murphy (Springfield, Mass.), a midfielder for the Jeffs, also came away with individual honors as the conference’s Rookie of the Year. The duo has helped Amherst post a 12-2-1 overall record this season along with an unbeaten 7-0-1 mark in league play. It is the third time in the last six years that an individual from Amherst has been honored as the Player of the Year, the last being Ashley Harmeling in 2003.

Armstrong, who also earned 2006 NESCAC All-Conference First Team recognition, is enjoying a career year in her final season up front for the Jeffs. After she scored a career-best three goals and four assists in 2005, Armstrong has tallied a team-leading 11 goals while adding in three assists for 25 points through 15 outings. This season’s numbers more than double her career production from the previous three years at Amherst, as Armstrong entered 2006 with 20 points on seven goals and six assists. Armstrong currently sits among the league leaders in most offensive categories, ranking second in both goals and points while her five game-winners this season put her atop the category in the NESCAC.

In her rookie campaign with the Jeffs, Murphy has contributed five goals and two assists as part of an Amherst offense that averages 2.33 goals per game, second among all conference teams, while supporting a defense that has allowed a league-low 10 goals this season. Murphy is the only first year player on the 2006 NESCAC All-Conference First Team, and the first player to be a part of the squad since 2001.

Along with Armstrong at forward, Bates senior Kim Alexander (Cumberland, Maine) and Bowdoin junior Ann Zeigler (Washington, D.C.) both received First Team honors. For Alexander, the selection to the First Team caps a four-year career of being recognized as an All-Conference member every year, the past three years as part of the First Team. Alexander led the Bobcats in scoring for the second season in a row, collecting nine goals and two assists for 20 points while ranking among the leaders in the NESCAC in goals (4th) and points (5th). Zeigler, who leads the NESCAC in both goals and points, earned First Team accolades for the second-straight year after leading the Polar Bears in scoring for the third year in a row, as her 13 goals were a career-best this season. She will enter 2007 only 14 points shy of the 100-point plateau for her career.

A total of four midfielders earned NESCAC All-Conference First Team accolades this year. Joining Murphy from Amherst were Middlebury senior Kim Walker (Ridgewood, N.J.), Tufts junior Martha Furtek (East Falmouth, Mass.) and Trinity sophomore Devin Nwanagu (Westborough, Mass.). Walker has scored three goals and three assists with two of her tallies serving as game-winners this season. Furtek gained All-Conference recognition for the third-straight year after being named to the Second Team in 2004 and the First Team in 2005, scoring three goals and assisting on six others while starting all 15 matches for the Jumbos. Nwanagu, the 2005 NESCAC Rookie of the Year and 2005 Second Team selection, led the Bantams on the score sheet for the second year in a row, picking up four goals and four assists in 14 starts.

Bates senior defender Meg Coffin (Westford, Mass.) joined teammate Alexander as the only three-time First Team selection on this year’s squad. Coffin, a three-sport athlete for the Bobcats (Basketball, Lacrosse) and the 2006 NESCAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, netted a goal and an assist for Bates in 13 outings this season. Coffin was joined by Williams senior Jessica Hing (Oakland, Calif.) and Amherst sophomore Alanna Darling (Charlton, Mass.) on defense. Hing stepped from the 2005 Second Team to the 2006 First Team, as she helped the Ephs allow on average a goal per game while picking up two assists through 14 appearances. Darling has started all 15 games for the Jeffs as part of one of the NESCAC’s best defenses.

A pair of senior goalkeepers round out the 12-member NESCAC All-Conference First Team, Amherst’s Piper Crowell (San Rafael, Calif.) and Colby’s Liza Benson (Orchid, Fla.). Crowell holds a league-leading 0.58 goals against average and .896 save percentage, while Benson, a First Team member a year ago, sports a 0.84 goals against (3rd in NESCAC) and a .889 save percentage (2nd).

Middlebury head coach Peter Kim came away as the NESCAC Coach of the Year for the second time in three years. The third year head coach of the Panthers has guided his club this season to a 13-2-1 record and the 2006 NESCAC Women’s Soccer Championship, the first title for Middlebury since 2000.