CAA Announces NCAA Woman of the Year Nominees

7/27/2016 2:00:02 PM

Kelly McCarthy

RICHMOND, Va. (July 27, 2016) – The CAA proudly announces its two conference nominees – Northeastern women’s hockey alumna Kendall Coyne and William & Mary women’s soccer alumna Caroline Casey – for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership. Casey and Coyne are among student-athletes from across all three NCAA divisions being considered by the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee for the field of the top-30 honorees (10 per division). From this pool, the committee will determine the top three honorees from each division and will announce nine finalists in September, before the overall winner is chosen at a ceremony on Oct. 16 in Indianapolis.

Casey started every game of her career and is one of the best goalkeepers in William & Mary history, posting a record of 48-18-2. She ranks second all-time with 301 career saves, while her 29 shutouts rank her third all-time in program history. During her senior season, the Chesapeake, Va. native owned a 0.88 goals-against-average, with 86 saves, and 11 shutouts to help the Tribe to a share of the CAA Regular Season Championship. Casey was rewarded for her work on the field in 2015 by being named to the NSCAA First-Team All-American, All-CAA First-Team, CAA Defensive Player of the Year, and NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region First-Team. Following her collegiate career, she was drafted in the third round of the NWSL Draft by Sky Blue FC.

Off the field, Casey graduated from William & Mary in May with a degree in kinesiology and health sciences with a concentration in pre-med. Casey won a Provost Award in 2015, while also receiving induction in Chi Alpha Sigma, which is a national athlete honor society for a junior or senior athlete with a 3.5 GPA, or higher. Casey has also garnered a pair of CAA Commissioner's Academic Awards. In the community, Casey has spent time volunteering with the William & Mary Medical Relief Team that went to Nicaragua in the winter of 2014. During her two weeks in Nicaragua she was a part of a medical relief team that worked with an organization called International Service Learning. Casey and the group she was with were paired with translators and Nicaraguan doctors and participated in pharmacy and clinical rounds. In addition to the medical rounds, the group was put in charge a pair of cultural days where they setup games for the children, while also stressing the importance of brushing their teeth, wearing shoes, and washing their hands. In addition, Casey is involved with Senior Connections, Dream Catcher Therapeutic Riding Center and was a committee member with W&M Relay for Life in addition to volunteering consistently all four years in Williamsburg.

The 2016 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner for the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey, Coyne had a remarkable season, leading Northeastern to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. The Palos Heights, Ill., native registered 84 points in only 37 games, while captaining the Huskies to their winningest season in program history with 28 victories. Coyne was named an AHCA First-Team All-American, the Cammi Granato Award winner for WHEA Player of the Year, the All-New England Player of the Year, and took home the Jeanne Rowlands Award for the top senior female scholar-athlete at Northeastern.

As impressive as her on-ice feats were, Coyne was equally established in the classroom and the community. Coyne earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in both semesters this past year as a corporate communications major, and has been heavily involved with community service endeavors with the Ronald McDonald House, Make-A-Wish Foundation, For Julie Foundation, Bonnie's Foundation, Chicago Blackhawks Youth Hockey Camps, and more.

Coyne and Casey were in an initial group of six CAA student-athletes to be nominated by their institutions and a part of 231 NCAA Division I honorees. That group included UNCW’s Meredith Bozzi (cross country/track & field), James Madison’s Jailyn Ford (softball), and Delaware’s Katie Hillman (volleyball) and Amara Idris (track & field).