Filippone, Bloom pick up major awards
Junior captain Lauren Filippone tabbed as NEC Goalkeeper of the Year, frosh Haley Bloom earns NEC Rookie of the Year honors
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – A pair of Bryant University women's lacrosse players picked up major postseason accolades following a stellar 2011 season, as junior captain Lauren Filippone (West Babylon, N.Y.) was named the Northeast Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, N.Y.) was tabbed the NEC Rookie of the Year, as voted on by the league's head coaches and announced by conference officials Thursday night.
Both honorees earned a spot of the all-conference teams, where they were joined by sophomore defender Nicole Rettinger (Dix Hills, N.Y.), who earned her second NEC postseason recognition in as many years.
In a season that saw the Bulldogs earn more wins than in their first two Division I seasons combined, the trio was an integral part of Bryant's success in 2011. The three led the team to a 7-2 conference mark that earned the Bulldogs a second-place finish in the regular-season standings in just their second year competing as a member of the NEC and third at the Division I level.
Without question, Filippone's stellar season between the pipes went a long way in securing Bryant's place within the league and in the nation, as the junior, who also earned a first team all-conference nod, stopped 49.8 percent of the shots she faced on the year to rank second in the conference and sixth in the nation among all DI players. Filippone is also third on the conference circuit in saves per game (10.0) and fifth in ground balls per outing (3.0), a category in which she led the Bulldogs on the year.
Hailing from West Babylon, N.Y., Filippone made her mark on the national scene as well, with top-10 rankings in save percentage (sixth), total saves (seventh), saves per game (10th) and ground balls (10th). She showcased her skills in league play, holding six-of-nine NEC opponents to single-digit scoring outputs, five of which resulted in victories for the Bulldogs. The First Team All-NEC award recipient was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week on March 28, and recorded a new program single-game high with 21 saves against Holy Cross.
Bryant has built a strong foundation for future success with a terrific freshman contingent led by Bloom, who paced the Bulldogs with 41 points on 27 goals and a team-best 14 assists. She topped all NEC freshmen in scoring and recorded five hat tricks on the year while her nine free position goals tied for fifth in the conference.
Bloom, who hails from Hauppauge, N.Y., is the only freshman to be voted onto an All-NEC team, adding both a second team all-conference recognition as well as an all-rookie team bid to her collection of postseason honors. Bloom was named the NEC Rookie of the Week on March 14 following a four-goal outing against UC-Davis. On the year, Bryant's freshman class scored over 62 percent of the team's goals and accounted for nearly 61 percent of the team's points, while Bloom herself was responsible for more than 20 percent of the Bulldogs' total points.
Rettinger joins Bloom on the All-NEC Second Team, earning her second-consecutive all-conference honor after receiving both first team and all-rookie accolades as a freshman. The Long Island native and 2010 walk-on forced a team-high 27 caused turnovers for the Bulldogs and ranks second on the squad with 23 ground balls. Her 1.69 caused turnovers per game is the third-best mark in the conference and ranks 21st in the nation.
The Bulldogs wrapped up 2011 action on a Division I-best five-game winning streak and would have clinched a place in the NEC Tournament had the team been eligible. Bryant is eligible for postseason play beginning in 2013, at the conclusion of a mandatory four-year transition to full DI membership.