Murtha, Thompson Earn NECC Honors

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Two members of the Mitchell College women's lacrosse team were honored by the New England Collegiate Conference on Monday as the league announced its annual awards.

Junior Ashley Murtha was named to the all-conference first team while classmate Sherine Thompson earned a spot on the all-sportsmanship team. All awards were determined by a vote of the conference's head coaches.

Murtha earned first team status for the first time in her career to go along with an honorable mention nod in 2014. She led the Mitchell attack with a career-high 58 goals and four assists for 62 points. She finished second in the NECC in goals despite playing in only nine games all season, and she currently leads all Division III players in goals per game (6.44) while ranking third in points per game (6.89). Her pair of 12-goal games during the regular season also stands as the single game high in Division III this season.

Thompson, a defender, started and played in 10 games in her debut season. She recorded 10 ground balls and caused three turnovers.

Mitchell enjoyed a breakout season under first-year head coach Chelsea Phillips. In the program's third season of existence, the Mariners – who recorded only two wins over the previous two years – went 5-7 overall and 3-4 in league play, earning a berth in the NECC Championship for the first time ever.