Bridgewater, N.J. – Le Moyne College senior defender Jane Austenfeld (Lisle, N.Y./Whitney Point), junior goalkeeper Amanda Manfredi (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) and the coaching staff earned major awards from the NEC to lead a league-best eight Dolphins earning all-conference recognition, as voted upon by the league's 10 head coaches and announced by the conference office on Wednesday evening.

Austenfeld was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and to the all-conference first team, Manfredi was tabbed the Goalkeeper of the Year and to the all-conference first team and the coaching staff of head coach Liz Beville and assistant coaches Allyson Trice and Paige Crandall '24 were named the Coaching Staff of the Year.

Junior midfielder Maddi Barney (Lorraine, N.Y./South Jefferson) and first-year graduate student attacker Francesca Tortora (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse/Stony Brook) and joined Austenfeld and Manfredi on the first team. Junior midfielder Julia Blakeslee (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca), sophomore defender Kate Foster (Sweaburg, Ontario/St. Mary's Catholic) and redshirt junior attacker Olivia Lockwood (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee/Onondaga C.C.) earned placement on the second team. Freshman defender Katy Harbold (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) was selected to the all-rookie team.

Austenfeld earns all-conference honors for the first time in her career and is the fourth Dolphin in the program's history to be named a conference's top defender (Falcone 2006 MAAC, Gaffney 2018 NE10, O. McEntee 2019 NE10). A starter in all 16 games, she is tied for the team lead in caused turnovers amongst defenders with a career-high 14, while adding a career-best 22 ground balls, the third-most on the team. The anchor for a defense which allows just 8.31 goals per game (the 15th-best in the country), she caused multiple turnovers in four games. She also scooped up multiple ground balls in five games, including three in a pair of contests.

Manfredi collects all-conference accolades for the first time in her career and is the sixth Dolphin in the program's history to be named a conference's top goalkeeper (Fucillo 2012 NE10, Marbut 2015 NE10, George 2017 NE10, George 2018 NE10, Crandall 2021 NE10). The starter between the pipes in all 16 games, Manfredi has an 8.02 goals against average, 113 saves and a .493 save percentage over 868:20. She also has 27 ground balls, second-most on the team. She leads the NEC and is ranked 11th nationally in both goals against average and save percentage. She has registered double-digit saves in four games, including a season-high 12 at Canisius.

Beville earns a coach of the year honors for the second time in her career after being recognized by the NE10 in 2021. In her seventh year leading the Dolphins, she has led this year's team to the largest turnaround in the nation with a nine-win and 0.578 win percentage improvement. The Dolphins have won 13 games at the Division I level for just the third time in its 15 seasons at the level (1999-2010, 2024-26). Le Moyne's 13 wins are the most by an NEC team since 2022 (Mount St. Mary's 15-5) and its .812 win percentage is the best since 2021 (Mount St. Mary's .824). The Dolphins' defense has allowed the fewest goals in the NEC overall and in conference play, while the offense is the second-best in the circuit overall and in league play.

Barney receives recognition from the NEC for the third consecutive season after being named to the all-rookie team in 2024 and to the second team last year. She's registered a career-high 39 points on a career-best 33 goals and career high-tying six assists as a starter in all 16 games, while posting career and team-highs of 28 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers to go with 15 draw controls. She has multiple points in 13 games, including four games with at least four points. She's had 10 games with multiple goals, including a career-high five goals at Central Connecticut State last Saturday. She's recorded multiple ground balls in nine games, has caused at least two turnovers in five games and also posted multiple draw controls in five games.

Tortora earns all-conference honors for the first time in her career in her first year with the Dolphins. She leads the Dolphins in scoring with a career-high 60 points on 36 goals and a team-best 24 assists as a starter in 15 of 16 games, while adding a career-best 18 ground balls and a career-high 12 caused turnovers. The NEC Player of the Week four of the last seven weeks, she is the sixth player in the program's Division I tenures (1999-2010, 2024-26) to record 60 points in a campaign and the fourth player in Le Moyne's Division I ears with at least 35 goals and at least 20 assists in a season. After being held scoreless in the season opener, she has a point in each of the last 15 games. She's recorded multiple points in 14 games, including each of the last five games with at least five points. She found the back of the net multiple times in 10 contests, including a career-high four goals in four games, and dished out multiple assists in six games, including a career-best four in two of the last four games. She has five games with multiple ground balls and four contests with at least two caused turnovers (all of which came in the last seven games).
 
Blakeslee also earns all-conference honors for the first time in her career. A starter in all 16 games, she has a career high 132 draw controls, a career-best 17 goals and one assist for 18 points to go with a career-high 20 ground balls. She is tied for first in the NEC in draw controls per game (8.25) and total draw controls. Her 8.25 draw controls per game are the most in the program's history by over 1.3 and she ranks third in the program's history in total draw controls in a season. She ranks 19th nationally in draw controls per game and is 20th in total draw controls. She has five games with double-digit draw controls, including a career-high 14 draw controls against Mercyhurst, which is tied for the second-most by a Dolphin in the program's history and the most in a Division I game. She has multiple goals in three games, including a career high-tying four at Howard. She has seven games with at least two ground balls, including a career-best four at Manhattan.

Foster earns all-conference honors for the first time in her career. A starter in all 16 games, she has a career-high 12 caused turnovers (tied with Tortora for the fourth-most on the team) and a career-best 19 ground balls, tied for the fifth-most on the team. She has caused multiple turnovers in three games, including a career-best three at LIU. She has collected multiple ground balls in four games, including a pair of contests with three.

Lockwood earns all-conference honors in her first year as a Dolphin. She leads the Dolphins in goals with 37 as a starter in all 13 games played, while adding seven assists for 44 points, the second-most on the team. She has registered multiple points in nine games, including three games with at least five points. The NEC Player of the Week three of the first four weeks of the season, she has found the back of the net multiple times in nine contests, including eight goals in her Dolphin debut, which tied for the most by a Dolphin in a Division I game and are in a three-way tie for the second-most overall in the program's 33-year history.

Harbold is the second Dolphin to earn a spot on the NEC All-Rookie Team (Barney in 2024). A starter in all 16 games in her first collegiate season, she is tied with Austenfeld for second on the team in caused turnovers with 14, while adding 10 ground balls. She has three games with at least two caused turnovers, including three at Binghamton, and a pair of contests with two ground balls, including the Binghamton game.

Le Moyne (13-3, 8-1 NEC) will open pursuit of its first NEC title (and eighth overall conference championship (4 MAAC, 3 NE10)) on Thursday with a semifinal matchup against fourth-seeded FDU at 12:00 p.m. In the regular season matchup with the Knights just nine days ago, the Dolphins registered an 11-7 victory.