COLCHESTER, Vt. - First-year Sarah Gormley (East Moriches, N.Y./Westhampton Beach) was named Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Year on Wednesday to lead five Saint Michael's College women's soccer student-athletes combining for eight postseason honors, as voted upon and chosen by the league's coaches.
 
A forward, Gormley became the first student-athlete in program history to earn a major postseason award from the NE10 while joining fifth-year senior midfielder Claire Williams (Saint Leonard, Md./Calvert) and senior back Christina Cummings (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) on the NE10 All-Conference second team. First-year forward Scarlett Brookes (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) was selected for the all-league third team, while she, Gormley and first-year back Julia Palmese (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) were NE10 All-Rookie Team picks.
 
All four award winners were recognized by the NE10 for the first time. Four Purple Knights earned all-conference laurels for the first time since 2007, while at least three were named to the second team or higher for the first time since 1993. More than one Purple Knight had last been picked for the all-rookie team in 2008.
 
In 19 games, including 17 starts, Gormley potted six goals while posting 15 points, leading all NE10 first-years in points while tying for fourth in the NCAA East Region among first-years. Many of her points came in critical moments, including: Sept. 9 at Post University, 68th-minute goal padded a one-goal lead in a 3-1 win; Sept. 14 at Dominican University, scored opening goal in a 5-1 win; Sept. 17 at Felician University, assisted opening goal in a 2-1 win; Sept. 21 at Bentley University, scored opening goal in a 1-1 tie; and Oct. 26 at No. 5 Adelphi University, scored tying goal and assisted winner in a 3-1 victory.
 
Williams returned to help command the Purple Knight midfield after landing New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) All-New England honors the last two years. She turned in a pair of goals in 17 games, all starts, this fall while lending her talents more on the defensive side of the ball. Williams struck for the second game-winning goal of her career in the 79th minute on Sept. 28, a 4-2 win over Southern Connecticut State University. She owns 64 starts in 65 career games.
 
Cummings started 18 times in the backfield as a senior captain, culminating a career that began with her at forward. After netting two goals in her first 55 career games, both in 2021, Cummings scored three of the Purple Knights' four goals in wins on Oct. 2 and 5, and added an assist during a 1-1 draw with the University of New Haven on Oct. 12. In all, she had three goals and a pair of assists this fall.
 
In 18 games, including 14 starts, Brookes potted seven goals, tops among all NE10 first-years and good for third among first-years in the East. Three of her goals went as game-winners, leaving her one short of the league lead. Brookes scored an insurance goal at Dominican on Sept. 14, the lone tally in a 2-1 setback at Saint Anselm College on Sept. 24, and a go-ahead strike in a 4-2 win against Southern Connecticut State on Sept. 28 before each of her next three goals went as winners, including in the 3-1 upset of No. 5 Adelphi on Oct. 26.
 
Palmese was a regular at outside back, starting 17 times in 18 games. She lent an assist at Post on Sept. 9 and aided a defense that allowed one goal or less 15 times, with six shutouts.
 
Under 12th-year head coach Wendy Elles, the Purple Knights were ninth in this week's NCAA East Region poll while going 11-4-4 overall and 3-3-4 in league play during one of the most successful seasons in program history. The 11 wins were a school record, and they tied another mark with a 10-game unbeaten run (7-0-3). As the No. 5 seed, Saint Michael's lost a 1-0 decision to No. 4 Bentley during an NE10 Championship quarterfinal on Sunday in its first postseason contest in 22 years.