COLCHESTER, Vt. - Five Saint Michael's College women's soccer players recently earned New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) All-New England honors for the 2025 season.
 
Sophomores Scarlett Brookes (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) and Julia Palmese (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) and first-year Chloe Laizer (West Springfield, Mass./West Springfield) were placed on the 11-woman first team, while senior Bella DelVecchio (Saugus, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) and sophomore Sarah Gormley (East Moriches, N.Y./Westhampton Beach) earned spots on the 11-player second team. All 22 selections hailed from Northeast 10 Conference institutions.
 
Brookes added to an awards haul that included United Soccer Coaches All-America second team, Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2 CCA) All-America third team, D2 CCA East Region Player of the Year, and NE10 Player of the Year accolades for the 2025 season. Despite missing four games, Brookes led the NE10 in goals (13), points (31) and game-winning goals (6), placing top 10 in the nation in winners (7th), points per game (9th) and goals per game (10th) while scoring on nearly 42% of her shots on goal. Brookes set a school record for game-winners and had the most goals or points by a Purple Knight since Michelle Bougor '98, an SMC Athletic Hall of Famer and the program's all-time leading scorer, notched 15 goals and 37 points in 1996. Brookes' 31 points are fourth in program history, and her 13 goals tied for fourth. Her nine career winners are one short of Sara Pope '04 for the most by a Purple Knight since complete records became available in 1996.
 
Laizer, also a D2 CCA All-East Region first team pick and the NE10 Goalkeeper of the Year, was the leading vote getter among goalkeepers for NEWISA All-New England. She led the NE10 in wins (16), shutouts (9) and goals-against average (0.74) after being thrust into a starting role as a rookie, breaking program marks for victories and clean sheets. She is already fifth in program history in career wins and tied for fifth in shutouts. Laizer averaged 2.2 saves with a .759 save percentage.
 
Palmese started all 20 games on defense, scoring an insurance goal at Assumption University on Nov. 5. She earned D2 CCA All-East Region second team, United Soccer Coaches All-East Region second team, and NE10 All-Conference first team nods in the fall. Palmese anchored a defense that posted a school-record 13 shutouts with a 0.70 GAA, good for second in program annals, while allowing exactly one goal three other times. Saint Michael's allowed single-digit shots 15 times, including yielding two or less on seven occasions. The Purple Knights compiled two different five-game shutout streaks while adding a school-record eight-game winning streak.
 
DelVecchio was also chosen for the United Soccer Coaches All-East Region third team, NEWISA Senior Bowl, and NE10 All-Conference second team as a senior. The midfielder posted career highs in assists (7) and points (11) as a captain, tying for fourth in the NE10 in assists, and her 16 career helpers tie for fifth in program history. DelVecchio owned 63 starts in 68 career games and was the only senior to start every game on an underclass-heavy roster in 2025. She netted the game-winner in the Purple Knights' season-opening victory over Millersville University and handed off two assists in two of the final five games.
 
A second-time NEWISA All-New England selection, Gormley lent four goals and seven assists, tying for fourth in the league in assists. One of the team's most consistent contributors, she had a point in 11 different games, including totaling four goals and two helpers during one mid-season eight-game stretch. Gormley, who also repeated on the NE10 All-Conference second team, assisted Brookes' goal against Bentley University in her team's 1-0 NE10 Championship first-round win on Nov. 9. She was the 2024 NE10 Rookie of the Year.
 
Under 13th-year head coach Wendy Elles, the Purple Knights finished a historic season at 16-3-1. They hosted their first postseason game since 1989, earned their initial postseason victory, and advanced to their first league semifinal since 1989, losing only 2-1 at eventual NCAA national semifinalist Franklin Pierce University. Saint Michael's set school records for wins (16), shutouts (13) and assists (60) while tying the mark for goals (43).