Marlborough, Mass. - November 12, 2026 - The New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) has announced its women's soccer postseason awards and All-Conference teams following the conclusion of the 2026 championship tournament.
The 12 coaches from across the conference selected 33 student-athletes to the All-NEWMAC teams this fall (16 on the First Team, 17 on the Second Team). In total, 13 student-athletes are repeat selections have been named All-Conference in 2023, 2024 or 2025 with WPI's Jess English (Ledyard, Conn.) being the only four-time honoree of the group and 20 were first-time picks to the All-NEWMAC teams this fall.
MIT senior Arianna Doss (Houston, Texas) was named as the 2026 NEWMAC Women's Soccer Athlete of the Year after recording a conference best 13 assists to go along with 12 goals and 37 points, ranking second in both categories. Doss and the Engineers earned the top seed in the NEWMAC Tournament and defeated Springfield (3-0), WPI (2-1) and Salve Regina (4-0) to earn its fourth consecutive conference championship title in 2026. Doss is the ninth MIT student-athletes in the past ten seasons to receive Athlete of the Year recognition and 15th in the NEWMAC's 28-year history. The Engineers are set to host an NCAA Tournament Regional pod this weekend beginning on Saturday with a tilt with Eastern Connecticut State University.
MIT junior Sasha Ceol (Sherborn, Mass.) was voted as the 2026 NEWMAC Women's SoccerDefensive Athlete of the Year. Since the award's inception in 2016, a student-athlete from MIT has taken home the honor eight times. Ceol and the Engineers rank first in Division III in shutouts (18) third in shutout percentage (.783) and fourth in goals against average (.304). MIT surrendered just one goal during its 11 NEWMAC games and seven total goals over its 23 games heading into the NCAA Tournament. Offensively, Ceol has also contributed one goal and an assist this year.
MIT first-year Claire Zhang (Charlotte, NC) was named as the 2026 NEWMAC Women's Soccer Rookie of the Year after a stellar first season in Cambridge. Zhang has produced 14 goals and three assists for 31 points ranking second in the conference in goals, third in points and seventh in assists. Zhang is MIT's first Rookie of the Year since Natalie Barnouw earned the award in 2021 and is the fifth in MIT program history. Zhang ranks 14 goals rank eighth best in Division III this year and she also scored once in each of MIT's three conference tournament games this week.
Salve Regina's Tanya Roberts along with her staff of Katie Nickles, Jadon Desmarais and Morgan Paquin earned NEWMAC Women's Soccer Coaching Staff of the Year accolades this fall. This is the first coaching award for Salve Regina since the Seahawks joined the NEWMAC in 2023. Roberts, in her fifth season as the head coach of Salve Regina, led the Seahawks to a historic 2026 campaign as her squad earned the second seed in the NEWMAC Tournament. Salve Regina reached the NEWMAC Championship final and recorded the best winning percentage in program history and came just one win shy of the team record for win set by the 2011 squad. In 2026, Salve Regina went 12-4-5 overall and 7-2-2 in conference play.
Following the 2026 NEWMAC Women's Soccer Championship, Doss was recognized as the Laurels of Academic Excellence Award recipient for having the top grade point average of all the student-athletes competing in the title game. Doss is a biological engineering and political science major with a 4.00 GPA. She is the second straight student-athlete from MIT to earn the honor as former teammate Leena Mehendale was the recipient of the award at last year's championship game.
In addition to the major award winners, eight of the 16 First Team honorees this fall were repeat selections with English now being the lone four time All-Conference selection amongst the group this year. Babson's Caroline Sutherland (Millville, Mass.), the 2025 NEWMAC Defensive Athlete of the Year, as well as teammate Priscilla-Rose Men-Martin (Rolling Hills Estates, California.) and MIT's Madeline Seebeck (San Antonio, Texas) earned their third nods to the All-NEWMAC Teams this year. Doss, Ceol, Salve Regina's Paige Jessuck (Waterford, Conn.) and MIT's Jojo Miller (Marietta, Ga.) all made tthe All-Conference teams for the second time with Jessuck and Miller making their way on the First Team for the first time in their careers.
On this year's Second Team, Clark's Georgia Louis (West Hartford, Conn.) and Wheaton's Maya Thomas (Goffstown, NH) earned All-Conference honors for the third time, while the 2025 NEWMAC Rookie of the Year Izzy Lee (Phoenix, Ariz.), WPI's Maeve Steckley (Irondequoit, NY) and Coast Guard's Ellie Millner (Woodbridge, Va.) were all repeat selections this fall.
Wheaton's Camila Leiva (Warwick, RI) was the top goal scorer (15) and point getter (38) in the NEWMAC this year and earned her first nod to the NEWMAC All-Conference First Team for the Lyons. Leiva also prouced a league-best five game winning goals and averaged a NEWMAC best 2.78 shots on goal per game. Defensively, Wellesley's Olivia Lore (Blue Bell, Pa.) and Salve Regina's Sabrina Lawless (Milford, Conn.) ranked second and third, respetively, in saves and Lore finished the year with the second most shutouts in the conference with eight.
2026 All-NEWMAC Women's Soccer Awards
NEWMAC Athlete of the Year: Arianna Doss, Sr., F, MIT
NEWMAC Defensive Athlete of the Year: Sasha Ceol, Jr., D, MIT
NEWMAC Rookie of the Year: Claire Zhang, Fy., F, MIT
NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year: Tanya Roberts, Salve Regina
NEWMAC Laurels of Academic Excellence Award: Arianna Doss, MIT
| 2026 NEWMAC All-Conference First Team |
| Student-Athlete |
Institution |
Position |
Year |
Hometown |
Previous All-Conference Honoree |
| Sabrina Lawless |
Salve Regina |
GK |
Sr. |
Marshfield, MA |
|
| Arianna Doss |
MIT |
F |
Sr. |
Houston, TX |
1st (2025) |
| Camila Leiva |
Wheaton |
F |
So. |
Warwick, RI |
|
| Claire Zhang |
MIT |
F |
Fy. |
Charlotte, NC |
|
| Solimar Rivera |
Clark |
F |
Jr. |
Worcester, MA |
|
| Priscilla-Rose Men-Martin |
Babson |
M |
Sr. |
Rolling Hills Estates, CA |
1st (2025), 2nd (2024) |
| Madeline Seebeck |
MIT |
M |
Sr. |
San Antonio, TX |
1st (2025), 1st (2024) |
| Emma Wang |
MIT |
M |
Sr. |
San Carlos, CA |
|
| Paige Jessuck |
Salve Regina |
M |
So. |
Waterford, CT |
2nd (2025) |
| Areet Rao |
Wellesley |
M |
Fy. |
Palo Alto, CA |
|
| Sasha Ceol |
MIT |
D |
Jr. |
Sherborn, MA |
1st (2025) |
| Jess English |
WPI |
D |
Sr. |
Ledyard, CT |
1st (2025), 1st (2024), 2nd (2023) |
| Allie Gallagher |
Salve Regina |
D |
Sr. |
Staten Island, NY |
|
| Caroline Sutherland |
Babson |
D |
Sr. |
Millville, MA |
DAOY (2025), 1st (2025), 2nd (2024) |
| Madelyn Popilek |
MIT |
D |
Sr. |
Palm Beach Gardens, FL |
|
| Jojo Miller |
MIT |
D |
Sr. |
Marietta, GA |
2nd (2025) |
| 2026 NEWMAC All-Conference Second Team |
| Student-Athlete |
Institution |
Position |
Year |
Hometown |
Previous All-Conference Honoree |
| Olivia Lore |
Wellesley |
GK |
So. |
Blue Bell, PA |
|
| Ayla Verheul |
WPI |
GK |
Jr. |
Naarden, The Netherlands |
|
| Maeve Steckley |
WPI |
F |
Sr. |
Irondequoit, NY |
2nd (2025) |
| Karina Contreras |
Wheaton |
F |
So. |
Pawtucket, RI |
|
| Sienna Mastroianni |
Salve Regina |
F |
Fy. |
Whitinsville, MA |
|
| Liliann McAughan |
Babson |
F |
Jr. |
Bellvue, WA |
|
| Georgia Louis |
Clark |
F |
Jr. |
West Hartford, CT |
1st (2025), 2nd (2024) |
| Maya Thomas |
Wheaton |
M |
Sr. |
Goffstown, NH |
2nd (2025), 2nd (2024) |
| Andrea Cummings |
MIT |
M |
So. |
Seattle, WA |
|
| Izzy Lee |
Babson |
M |
So. |
Phoenix, AZ |
ROY (2025), 2nd (2025) |
| Madison Shaw |
WPI |
M |
Sr. |
Cheshire, CT |
|
| Kory Lloyd |
Clark |
M |
So. |
Jamestown, NC |
|
| Selene Hammad |
Clark |
M |
Jr. |
Franklin, MA |
|
| Alarice Luwaga |
Wheaton |
D |
Fy. |
North Providence, RI |
|
| Sadie Cohen |
Clark |
D |
Sr. |
Merion Station, PA |
|
| Mae Nephew |
Wellesley |
D |
Sr. |
Duluth, MN |
|
| Ellie Millner |
Coast Guard |
D |
So. |
Woodbridge, VA |
2nd (2025) |
About the NEWMAC
The NEWMAC is an association of 13 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Saint Anselm College (beginning reclassification process with NCAA in 2027-28), 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 seven Associate Members: 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 21 sports.