Cafferky, Turley Feature Five All-NEC Blue Devils
Sophomore Jennifer Cafferky was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and junior Nicki Turley was named the NEC Goalkeeper of the Year at the annual NEC pre-tournament banquet on Thursday night.
The Central Connecticut women's soccer team collected a pair of the six major individual awards and saw five players earn all-conference honors at the annual NEC pre-tournament awards banquet on Thursday night in Teaneck, NJ. Sophomore Jennifer Cafferky was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and junior Nicki Turley was named the NEC Goalkeeper of the Year. Both Cafferky and Turley earn their respective major awards for the second consecutive season.
2015 NEC Women's Soccer Award Winners
Official NEC Release
Cafferky, who was the last year's NEC Defensive Player of the Year and NEC Rookie of the Year, preserves her Defensive Player of the Year title anchoring the back four of a Blue Devils' defense that was tops in the league all season. Central finished the year leading the NEC in goals allowed only surrendering 15 over 17 games and also held a significant advantage over the rest of the league in goals against average, posting a mark of 0.82 in 1653:41 minutes of play. The 5-10 center-back from Boras, Sweden also chipped in offensively collecting four points with a pair of goals on the year.
Repeating as NEC Goalkeeper of the Year was junior stopper Nicki Turley. She becomes the first goalkeeper in Blue Devil history to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons and joins Nikola Deiter as the only other Blue Devil to ever win the award. Turley led the NEC in goals against average at 0.95, allowing just 13 goals over 1228:41 minutes of action betwen the pipes. She also bested the league in save percentage at a .845 clip. The Henrietta, NY product totaled 71 saves in 13 games played and posted four shutouts. The junior was also tabbed NEC Defensive Player of the Week three times during the 2015 campaign.
As major individual award winners, both Cafferky and Turley also reserve a spot as members of the All-NEC First team.
Joining the duo on the All-NEC First Team were two more Blue Devils in seniors Delaney Lancor and Charlie Branch. Lancor headed the CCSU offensive attack from the forward position this season leading the Blue Devils with 16 points on a team-high six goals, including one game-winner. Her 16 points ranked fourth best in the league and the six goals slotted her fifth overall on the NEC marker list.
Branch concluded her career at CCSU with the All-NEC First Team nod at the midfield position. The Norwich, England native finished the season with six points on a pair of goals and assisted on two more. One of her goals proved to be the game-winner in a 4-0 rout of UMass Lowell.
Central had the most representatives on the All-NEC first team with four followed by Fairleigh Dickinson with three as the only schools with multiple representatives. CCSU did not have any All-NEC second team selections.
Freshman Emma Hubbard was recognized on the NEC All-Rookie team finishing her freshman season with 10 points. Her 10 points were second to Lancor on the team, tallying four goals and two assists. Three of Hubbard's goals were game-winners and she appeared in all 17 matches for CCSU.
The Blue Devils finished the 2015 season with an overall record of 8-5-4 and 3-3-2 mark in NEC play. Central finished sixth overall in the league, narrowly missing the NEC Tournament by just two points.