PRINCETON, N.J. -- Four Ivy League programs were represented among the League’s women’s soccer postseason award winners following a vote of the Ancient Eight head coaches.
Princeton senior midfielder
Vanessa Gregoire and Yale junior forward
Michelle Alozie were selected as Co-Offensive Players of the Year. Columbia senior defender
Natalie Ambrose claimed the Defensive Player of the Year award and Harvard freshman midfielder
Murphy Agnew was dubbed the Rookie of the Year. Princeton head coach
Sean Driscoll was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to their second League title in his three years at the helm.
Gregoire was the primary facilitator for the Princeton offense that averaged 2.25 goals per game to rank 17th in NCAA Division I. The Beaconsfield, Quebec, Canada, product tallied five assists to rank fourth in the Ivy League and 11 points to register fourth among the Tiger lineup that includes a trio of First Team All-Ivy forwards. Gregoire is Princeton’s 11th all-time Player of the Year selection. With two-time recipient
Tyler Lussi (2014, 2015), Gregoire gives Princeton 3-of-5 Offensive Player of the Year award winners since the institution of the honor in 2013. Gregoire reaped All-Ivy honors in each of her four seasons in Princeton twice earning First Team All-Ivy accolades (2015, 2017) and twice being named All-Ivy Honorable Mention (2014, 2016).
Alozie registered 23 points—via nine goals and five assists—and led Yale in all three offensive categories. The Apple Valley, Calif., native shared the League lead in goals, ranked second in points and fourth in assists, while having a hand in 56 percent of Yale’s goals on the season. She is Yale’s sixth Player of the Year honoree and the Bulldogs first offensive recipient since
Becky Brown in 2009. Alozie—the lone unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection—lands on the list for the first time after being an All-Ivy Honorable Mention as a freshman in 2015.
Ambrose anchored the Columbia back line that produced nine shutouts and compiled a .779 goals against average this season. The Sisters, Ore., product started all seven conference games for the Lions, who compiled six shutouts and allowed just one goal in League play—on a penalty kick. On the attack, Ambrose added three assists on the season, second among Columbia student-athletes. She is Columbia’s third of-the-Year honoree and first Defensive Player of the Year since the award was instituted in 2013. A three-time Second Team All-Ivy selection (2014, 2015, 2016), Ambrose cracks the First Team in her final season in a Lion uniform.
Agnew led the Crimson with four goals, five assists and 13 points. The New Hope, Pa., native ranked 12th in the League in goals, fourth in assists and 10th in points. Agnew is Harvard’s 12th Rookie of the Year honoree and joins
Midge Purce (2013) and
Dani Stollar (2014) to give the Crimson 3-of-5 recipients since 2013. Agnew and Stollar comprised Harvard’s Second Team All-Ivy tandem this season.
Driscoll, who led the Tigers to their ninth all-time Ivy League title—and their second during his three-year tenure—is the first two-time Ivy League Coach of the Year since the award was instituted in 2014. He was also the Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2015, when Princeton won its eighth Ivy League crown and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Princeton compiled a 14-2-0 mark this season, including a 6-1-0 record in Ivy League play. The Tigers, who have allowed just six goals on the season, return to the NCAA Tournament for their 12th all-time appearance and will be searching for their ninth NCAA Tournament win when they host Monmouth at 7 p.m. Friday.
League champion Princeton and runner-up Columbia dominated the All-Ivy teams. The Tigers claimed a League-high seven selections, including four on the First Team. The Lions registered six honorees, with a League-high four on the Second Team.
Gregoire was joined by a trio of Tiger forwards—
Abby Givens (Charlotte, N.C.),
Mimi Asom (Dallas, Texas) and
Courtney O’Brien (Pacific Palisades, Calif.)—on the First Team. Sophomores Givens and O’Brien, who co-led the League with nine goals, earn their first All-Ivy nods. Asom, a two-time Second Team All-Ivy forward (2015, 2016), cracks the First Team as a junior.
Givens (9 G, 6 A), O’Brien (9 G, 2 A) and Asom (8 G, 1 A) each accounted for at least 17 points to rank among the top seven in the Ancient Eight. Givens paced the League in every major offensive category—goals (9), goals per game (.69), game-winning goals (4), assists (6), assists per game (.46), points (24) and points per game (1.85). She ranks among the national leaders in goals per game (23rd), game-winning goals (35th), assists per game (33rd) and points per game (9th).
Princeton senior defenders
Mikaela Symanovich (San Francisco, Calif.),
Natalie Larkin (Washington, D.C.) and
Katie Pratt-Thompson (Long Beach, Calif.) earned Second Team All-Ivy recognition as part of the Tiger unit that owns 11 shutouts and a .375 goals against average.
After co-leading the League with nine goals, Columbia senior midfielder
Natalie Neshat (San Diego, Calif.) joined Ambrose on the First Team. Neshat was a Second Team All-Ivy recipient in 2016.
Junior forward
Emma Anderson (Bethesda, Md.), junior forward
Amaris Hemmings (Bronx, N.Y.), sophomore defender
Amalya Johnson (Montclair, N.J.) and junior goalkeeper
Sophie Whitehouse (Washington, D.C.) were the Lions four Second Team All-Ivy selections.
Sophomore midfielder
Noelle Higginson (New Orleans, La.) and senior defender
Carlin Hudson (Berkeley, Calif.) joined Alozie to give Yale a trio of First Team All-Ivy honorees—second only to Ivy League champion Princeton. Higginson earns her first All-Ivy nod, while Hudson makes the First Team following Second Team All-Ivy (2016) and All-Ivy Honorable Mention (2014) campaigns. Higginson compiled eight points on four goals, while Hudson amassed five points on a goal and three assists.
Despite finishing seventh in the League, Dartmouth was 1-of-4 Ivies to produce multiple First Teamers. The Big Green were represented by junior midfielder
Remy Borinsky (Warren, N.J.) and senior defender
Brittany Champagne (Suffield, Conn.). Each earns her third-straight All-Ivy nod. Borinsky was First Team All-Ivy in 2016 and Second Team All-Ivy in 2015, while Champagne was Second Team All-Ivy in 2016 and All-Ivy Honorable Mention in 2015. Borinsky led the Big Green with 11 points on five goals and an assist. Champagne was 1-of-4 players to start all 17 games for Dartmouth.
A first-time All-Ivy selection, sophomore midfielder
Abby Carchio (Lakeville, Mass.), represents Brown on the First Team. Carchio tallied seven points on two goals and three assists.
Penn goalkeeper
Kitty Qu (Foster City, Calif.) grabbed the final First Team All-Ivy slot—the first of her career—after starting 14 games in net for the Quakers. She conceded just nine goals in 1301:03 minutes, to claim a .623 goals against average. The sophomore’s .890 save percentage ranks ninth in NCAA Division I.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Vanessa Gregoire, Princeton (Sr., M – Beaconsfield, Quebec, Canada)
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Michelle Alozie, Yale (Jr., F – Apple Valley, Calif.)
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Natalie Ambrose, Columbia (Sr., D – Sisters, Ore.)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Murphy Agnew, Harvard (Fr., M – New Hope, Pa.)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Sean Driscoll, Princeton
FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY^
Abby Givens, Princeton (So., F – Charlotte, N.C.)
Mimi Asom, Princeton (Jr., F – Dallas, Texas)
Courtney O’Brien, Princeton (So., F – Pacific Palisades, Calif.)
* Michelle Alozie, Yale (Jr., F – Apple Valley, Calif.)
Abby Carchio, Brown (So., M – Lakeville, Mass.)
Natalie Neshat, Columbia (Sr., M – San Diego, Calif.)
Remy Borinsky, Dartmouth (Jr., M – Warren, N.J.)
Vanessa Gregoire, Princeton (Sr., M – Beaconsfield, Quebec, Canada)
Noelle Higginson, Yale (So., M – New Orleans, La.)
Natalie Ambrose, Columbia (Sr., D – Sisters, Ore.)
Brittany Champagne, Dartmouth (Sr., D – Suffield, Conn.)
Carlin Hudson, Yale (Sr., D – Berkeley, Calif.)
Kitty Qu, Penn (So., GK – Foster City, Calif.)
SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY^
Star White, Brown (Fr., F – Norfolk, Va.)
Emma Anderson, Columbia (Jr., F – Bethesda, Md.)
Amaris Hemmings, Columbia (Jr., F – Bronx, N.Y.)
Erin Kawakami, Dartmouth (Fr., M – Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.)
Dani Stollar, Harvard (Sr., M – Honolulu, Hawaii)
Murphy Agnew, Harvard (Fr., M – New Hope, Pa.)
Allie Trzaska, Penn (Jr., M – Yardley, Pa.)
Sydney Cummings, Brown (Fr., D – Millstone Township, N.J.)
Amalya Johnson, Columbia (So., D – Montclair, N.J.)
Mikaela Symanovich, Princeton (Sr., D – San Francisco, Calif.)
Natalie Larkin, Princeton (Sr., D – Washington, D.C.)
Katie Pratt-Thompson, Princeton (Sr., D – Long Beach, Calif.)
Sophie Whitehouse, Columbia (Jr., GK – Washington, D.C.)
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Emily Koe, Columbia (So., F – Los Angeles, Calif.)
Celia Story, Brown (Jr., M – Bainbridge Island, Wash.)
Erica Higa, Penn (Sr., M – Los Altos Hills, Calif.)
Katy Schmidt, Brown (Sr., D – Corvallis, Ore.)
Reilly Lucas, Columbia (Jr., D – Freeport, N.Y.)
Bonnie Shea, Dartmouth (Fr., D – Atlanta, Ga.)
Chase Geffert, Penn (Fr., D – Mill Valley, Calif.)
Lucy Rickerson, Princeton (Fr., D – San Diego, Calif.)
Christine Etzel, Brown (Jr., GK – Madison, Conn.)
Natalie Grossi, Princeton (So., GK – Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada)
*Unanimous Selection
^First & Second Teams Expanded Due To Ties In Voting