COLCHESTER, Vt. - A trio of Saint Michael's College women's lacrosse players earned Northeast-10 Conference All-Conference accolades on Tuesday, as voted upon by the league's coaches, to highlight five postseason honors earned by Purple Knights.
 
Junior Abbie Whitley (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) and sophomores Julia Barbato (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) and Audrey Conover (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional) were all named to the NE10 All-Conference third team, while first-years Grace Driscoll (Salem, N.H./Salem) and Mia Sullivan (Natick, Mass./Natick) earned selections to the NE10 All-Rookie Team. The Purple Knights had an all-conference selection for the first time since 2021 while placing five student-athletes on the all-rookie team the past two seasons.
 
One of four defenders on the third team, Barbato contributed seven assists, 42 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers this spring, tying for the league lead in ground balls and placing fourth in caused turnovers. She is the only NE10 player among the top five in both categories, as Barbato tied for eighth in program history in season caused turnovers. She notched multiple ground balls in 12 games and at least two caused turnovers in eight contests.
 
Conover, among eight third team midfielders, totaled 27 goals, nine assists, 41 draw controls, 28 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers. She is eighth in the NE10 in caused turnovers per game while tying for 11th in total caused turnovers and placing 13th in ground ball average. Conover contributed at least three points seven times, collecting 18 in the last four games alone. She had at least three draw controls on eight occasions while recording eight well-rounded performances with at least one goal, ground ball, caused turnover and draw control.
 
Whitley's 33 caused turnovers this season were good for third in school annals, and she stands sixth in career caused turnovers (65) entering 2026. Among four third team defenders, she is second in the NE10 in caused turnovers and added one assist and 24 ground balls. The captain forced at least one turnover in all but one game while causing multiple in nine contests, and scooped a ground ball in 14 of 16 games.
 
Driscoll and Sullivan were among 18 NE10 All-Rookie Team selections. Despite missing four games, Sullivan paced the squad with 11 assists while adding 11 goals, contributing five two-goal outings. Driscoll posted four goals and five assists during her rookie campaign.
 
The Purple Knights finished 5-11 overall and 2-8 in the NE10, registering their highest overall win total in 10 years while coming within one win of their initial postseason appearance since that 2015 season.