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NEWMAC Announces 2025 Women's Soccer Postseason Awards

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – The NEWMAC has released its Women's Soccer postseason awards, as announced by the conference on Thursday morning. The awards are determined by the conference's twelve coaches following the conclusion of regular-season play.

Midfielder Natalie Barnouw (Los Angeles, Calif.) of MIT was voted NEWMAC Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. Babson College's Caroline Sutherland (Millville, Mass.) earned Defensive Athlete of the Year honors, while teammate Izzy Lee (Phoenix, Ariz.) was voted Rookie of the Year. MIT's Leena Mehendale (Dallas, Texas) was the Laurels of Academic Excellence award winner. The MIT coaching staff was voted Coaching Staff of the Year by their peers.

Barnouw headlines the first team selections at the midfielder position, and is joined by Mehendale, Babson's Priscilla-Rose Men-Martin (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.), Smith College's Una Keller (Davis, Calif.), and Springfield College's Kaitlyn Suller (Oviedo, Fla.). Sutherland leads the defensive nods, along with Emerson College's Presley King (Lake Forest, Calif.), MIT's Sasha Ceol (Sherborn, Mass.), Madeline Seebeck (San Antonio, Texas), and WPI's Jess English (Ledyard, Conn.) Babson's Josie Lee (Duxbury, Mass.) earned a spot as a forward, as did Clark University's Georgia Louis (West Hartford, Conn.). Emerson's Rowan McCrary (Washington, D.C.), MIT's Arianna Doss (Houston, Texas), and Springfield's Meredith Healy (Niantic, Conn.) are the remaining forward selections. Wheaton College's Patricia Bandrup (Poway, Calif.) rounds out the first team selections in the goalkeeper position.

Lee is featured at the second team midfielder slot, alongside Emerson's Brady Campbell (North Tustin, Calif.), U.S. Coast Guard Academy's Elena Millner (Woodbridge, Va.), Salve Regina University's Paige Jessuck (Waterford, Conn.), Wheaton's Kate Rafferty (Westerly, R.I.), and WPI's Sera Brunner (Littleton, Colo.). Four forwards were named to the second team in MIT's Ayla Sumer (Dallas, Texas), Smith's Kaleigh Quinn (Bristol, R.I.), Wheaton's Ali Roche (Maynard, Mass.), and WPI's Maeve Steckley (Rochester, N.Y.). Babson's Jadyn Mapura (East Hanover, N.J.) was selected as a defender alongside Clark's Camilla Daigle (Longmeadow, Mass.), Emerson's Carmen Talavera (Los Angeles, Calif.), MIT's JoJo Miller (Marietta, Ga.), Springfield's Mirabel Brunell (Clifton Park, N.Y.), and Wheaton's Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.). Wellesley College's Riley McNair (Cupertino, Calif.) closes out the all-conference selections.

Athlete of the Year- Natalie Barnouw (Gr., M), MIT

A center midfielder, Barnouw leads the conference with 20 goals, 13 assists, and 53 points. Her 53 points currently lead all of NCAA Division III and are an MIT program record. Her 10 goals, 8 assists, and 28 points in league play are also tops in the NEWMAC, as is her five game-winning goals. She helped MIT to an undefeated conference run and their third-straight NEWMAC title.

Defensive Player of the Year – Caroline Sutherland (Jr., D), Babson College

Sutherland started all 11 NEWMAC games along the back line for Babson. She led a defense that posted five shutouts in league play and ranked second in conference play with a 0.82 goals against average. She also netted three goals in league play, two of which were game-winners.

Rookie of the Year- Izzy Lee (Fy., M), Babson College

Lee started all 11 NEWMAC games in the midfield and scored two goals in conference play, both of which were game-winners in one-goal contests against Springfield and Coast Guard. Overall, Lee has five points and is third on the Beavers in scoring.


Laurels of Academic Excellence- Leena Mehendale (Sr., M), MIT

The Laurels of Academic Excellence are awarded to the student-athlete with the highest GPA competing at the finals site. A Biological Engineering major, Mehendale boasts a perfect 4.00 GPA.
 

Coaching Staff of the Year – MIT

MIT, led by Martin Desmarais, went undefeated in conference play at 10-0-1, and has lost only two matches this season, sitting at 20-2-1, and is ranked No. 18 in NCAA NPI rankings. MIT won the NEWMAC Championship for the third-straight season, earning an NCAA tournament berth, as well as hosting rights. The MIT coaching staff includes Desmarais, and assistant coaches Jeff Katz, KD Nolan and Vinny Coppola
 
Team Name Position Institution
First Team All-Conference Caroline Sutherland D Babson College
First Team All-Conference Presley King D Emerson College
First Team All-Conference Sasha Ceol D MIT
First Team All-Conference Madeline Seebeck D MIT
First Team All-Conference Jess English D WPI
First Team All-Conference Josie Lee F Babson College
First Team All-Conference Georgia Louis F Clark University
First Team All-Conference Rowan McCrary F Emerson College
First Team All-Conference Arianna Doss F MIT
First Team All-Conference Meredith Healy F Springfield College
First Team All-Conference Priscilla-Rose Men-Martin M Babson College
First Team All-Conference Natalie Barnouw M MIT
First Team All-Conference Leena Mehendale M MIT
First Team All-Conference Una Keller M Smith College
First Team All-Conference Kaitlyn Suller M Springfield College
First Team All-Conference Patricia Bandrup GK Wheaton College
Second Team All-Conference Jadyn Mapura D Babson College
Second Team All-Conference Camilla Daigle D Clark University
Second Team All-Conference Carmen Talavera D Emerson College
Second Team All-Conference Jojo Miller D MIT
Second Team All-Conference Mirabel Brunell D Springfield College
Second Team All-Conference Maya Thomas D Wheaton College
Second Team All-Conference Ayla Sumer F MIT
Second Team All-Conference Kaleigh Quinn F Smith College
Second Team All-Conference Ali Roche F Wheaton College
Second Team All-Conference Maeve Steckley F WPI
Second Team All-Conference Izzy Lee M Babson College
Second Team All-Conference Brady Campbell M Emerson College
Second Team All-Conference Elena Millner M U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Second Team All-Conference Paige Jessuck M Salve Regina University
Second Team All-Conference Kate Rafferty M Wheaton College
Second Team All-Conference Sera Brunner M WPI
Second Team All-Conference Riley McNair GK Wellesley College
 
About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with eight Associate Members: Brandeis University (Women's Lacrosse, 2026-2027), New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 20 sports.