DeMeo wins third straight major NEC award, headlines seven All-NEC selections

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) won her third straight major award, taking home Northeast Conference Player of the Year honors at the annual postseason awards banquet held at Bryant University on Wednesday night. She led seven Bulldogs who were named to first or second team All-NEC.

DeMeo finished the 2018 regular season with 55 goals, which led all players in the league by 11 en route to Bryant's 11-5 regular season record. She spearheaded a Bulldogs attack that scored 15.06 goals per game in 16 games, 1.48 more than the second-place offense.

Joining DeMeo on the first team is sophomore attacker Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.). After a 65-point performance in 2018, Breglia is making her second appearance on the first team, while Britton jumps up from the second team a year ago to make her first appearance on the top team this season. The junior midfielder did a little bit of everything for the Bulldogs, finishing the year with 32 points, 37 ground balls and 67 draw controls.

Four more Bulldogs were honored on the All-NEC Second Team, with senior attacker Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.), senior defenders Madison McNally (East Northport, N.Y.) and Laura Fullam (Massapequa, N.Y.) and senior goalkeeper Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) being named Wednesday night. Brown finished the year third on the team in scoring with 42 points, while McNally was a force defensively, scooping up 24 ground balls and causing 14 turnovers. Fullam finished the campaign with 26 ground balls, 25 draw controls and 21 caused turnovers. Santeramo finished the season with an 8.89 goals-against average, which is good for second among qualifiers between the pipes.

The Bulldogs open the 2018 postseason on Thursday afternoon when the top seeds host No. 4 Mount St. Mary's at 1 p.m. at the Bryant Track and Turf Complex. All ticket information and tournament updates can be found on Bryant Women's Lacrosse Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as by clicking here.