DeLancey, Vendel, Nangle Earn NEC Honors
Erin DeLancey earned NEC Goalkeeper of the Year and Kelly Nangle was named NEC Coach of the Year.
The Central Connecticut lacrosse team (7-9, 5-4 NEC) earned a pair of major awards and two All-Northeast Conference selections at the conference's pre-tournament banquet on Thursday evening. Senior Erin DeLancey was named NEC Goalkeeper of the Year and first-year head coach Kelly Nangle was honored as NEC Coach of the Year. DeLancey and junior Betsy Vendel were both selected to the All-NEC First Team for their performances in 2012.
DeLancey entered 2012 as CCSU's all-time leader in goalkeeper victories. She earned three NEC Defender of the Week honors on her way to a second consecutive seven win season in goal and a career mark of 19 wins. DeLancey made 144 saves on the season, while playing more than 945 minutes in goal. In NEC action, she stopped 83 shots compared to 81 goals allowed. Her 8.90 goals against average was tops in the NEC and her overall goals allowed mark of 9.90 sets a new CCSU single-season record. She has a season save percentage of .480, which ranks 12th nationally.
DeLancey is the first Blue Devil to earn goalkeeper of the year honors and she is the first Central goalkeeper to be named All-NEC since Alice Lee in 2009.
Vendel earns a First Team All-NEC honor in 2012 after a season in which she scored 26 goals and had 26 assists. She ranked fifth in the NEC with 1.62 assists per game and seventh in points per game with a 3.25 mark. Vendel was also fourth in the conference with 3.56 draw controls per game. She registered a team-high 57 draw controls on the season, which is a new CCSU single-season record. Vendel posted 42 draw controls in NEC play this season, which led the conference.
Last season Vendel earned Second Team All-NEC honors and in 2010 she was the NEC Rookie of the Year.
In only her first season as a collegiate head coach, Nangle earned NEC Coach of the Year honors after a campaign that saw the Blue Devils fall just short of their first every postseason berth in a 10-9 loss to #1 seed Sacred Heart. In her first year, Nangle led her squad to seven victories, which ties a program record, and a new school record with five conference wins. Her team posted a school record 6-1 mark at home, including a perfect 5-0 record against NEC opponents on Arute Field.
She is the first CCSU lacrosse coach to earn coach of the year honors from the NEC.
